Hooters denies it is closing for millennial-friendly rebranding

Hooters denies it is closing for millennial-friendly rebranding

Hooters is denying claims made in multiple social media posts that it is shutting down and rebranding.

The posts are misrepresenting a 2017 article that discussed some U.S. locations closing between 2012 and 2016, as well as changes the company made to its menu and decor more than a decade ago.

A misleading claim spread on social media Wednesday that Hooters, the restaurant famous for its scantily-clad waitresses, is shutting down and rebranding due to changing millennial tastes.

But Stephen Brown, a Hooters spokesperson, told The Associated Press that the casual dining chain has no plans to change up its image.

“There is no validity to this story,” he wrote in an email, adding, “Our concept is here to stay.”

The company also refuted the claim via one of its Twitter accounts.

In a follow-up post, the Twitter account that first spread the false claim cited an August 2017 article from Complex, which discussed some locations closing and menu changes in prior years, but did not say the entire chain was closing nor rebranding as the posts suggest.

The Complex article discussed a report that there had been a 7 percent drop in Hooters locations from 2012 to 2016.

It also noted that the chain updated its menus and decor in 2012 “in an attempt to attract younger patrons and female customers,” and earlier that year had opened a new chain called Hoots, which features Hooters’ popular chicken wings without waitresses in tight tops.

The article simultaneously discussed a then-new study from Pornhub that found its millennial users were less likely to search for breast-related terms.

But while the article tied the two things together, the study had nothing to do with the restaurant, nor the changes that had been made before its release.