This Hooters Employee Was One Of Many Who Went Viral For Refusing To Wear The New Uniform, And Together They Got Hooters To Change Their Policy Back
Sometimes all it takes is a viral video and a whole lot of community support to change a corporate policy.
Which is exactly what happened earlier this week after numerous Hooters employees began complaining via TikTok about the new uniform shorts policy.
In case you are not a frequenter of the Hooters establishment, here's a quick refresher on what the old uniforms looked like:
The shorts are, dare I say, already short.
And here's what the new ones look like:
On Oct. 11, @sick.abt.it posted this video showing off the shorts that were supposed to be worn by Hooters employees as part of their new uniform going forward.
@sick.abt.it love my job but dont love wearing undies to work ☠️ #hootersgirl @Kirsten :)
♬ Jenna_Did_it - Chy
The new uniform policy was first launched in Texas Hooters locations before launching in various other restaurants across the country.
Her video got more than 15 million views and thousands of comments from both Hooters employees across the country and people just generally outraged over the new design.
TikTok was quickly filled with tons of other videos from Hooters' employees adding their own thoughts to the shorts debate. One of those was Georgia-based server Lexius (@lexiusxoxo).
@lexiusxoxo soooo hooters got new panties. i mean shorts. #fyp #boyaintnowayboy #hooterstiktok #hoot #fypシ #hooters
♬ original sound - Pain
"When they [Hooters corporate managers] explained it to us, they said, 'They look like high-waisted bikini bottoms,’" 23-year-old Lexius told BuzzFeed. "But as you can tell, that’s not what we got."
"My initial reaction was 'Oh, these are gonna be cute if they’re high waisted,'" she explained. "But then the next day I went to work and held it up, and I was like, ‘What do y'all think this is gonna cover? Because I have a butt.'”
Lexius said she and her other co-workers in their Atlanta Hooters location were concerned about what underwear they could wear with the new shorts, because even with the old shorts and tights, "There's a certain underwear you have to wear."
![<div><p>"With the tights, that right there was an issue [already] because in the back you could see the box on the tights because of how the shorts are cut," she explained. </p></div><span> @lexiusxoxo / Via <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lexiusxoxo/video/7020231253458750726?is_from_webapp=v1&q=lexius+hooters&t=1634850021370&is_copy_url=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:tiktok.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">tiktok.com</a></span>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/S6frLW46ghAsXQfd7pdZ0g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTE2NTI-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/096bf3bdeb7a357b6e407d90d3382e57)
"With the tights, that right there was an issue [already] because in the back you could see the box on the tights because of how the shorts are cut," she explained.
Lexius said she has a lot of mixed feelings on the shorts because she doesn't "hate them" but doesn't "love" them either. What she's been most frustrated about has been the sexist comments she's seen online surrounding this debate.
"All the comments were saying like, 'Oh this is what they signed up for' — no, this is not what we signed up for."
After the outcry on social media, Hooters revoked their new uniform policy on Sunday and instead said employees can choose for themselves "which style of shorts best fits their body and image."
@sick.abt.it couldn’t have done it without all of you ❤️ #hootersgirl
♬ sonido original - DIABLO_FFツ
But on Monday, Lexius said her managers told her Atlanta restaurant location that Hooters was implementing a new social media policy: "No recording videos in the bathroom or break room at work, no recording videos or taking pictures at the bar," she said. "And if we aren’t at Hooters, we aren’t supposed to be taking pictures or videos in our uniforms outside."
Lexius said her manager also instructed her to take her initial TikTok of the new shorts down because of the "cussing" in it and because her "butt kind of jiggled."
She said she personally feels like Hooters might have had good intentions in upgrading their new uniforms but went about it the wrong way.
"I feel like it’s a whole new generation of girls that work at Hooters," she explained. "BBLs are a thing, having a bigger behind is a thing, and I feel like Hooters was trying to stay up to date with how society is, but the way they went about it was the wrong way."
