Hooters has taken its 'delightfully tacky, yet unrefined' mantra to new hemline heights after introducing skimpy new uniform shorts for its female staff - who are voicing outrage over the 'tiny' derriere-baring design, while comparing the style to 'panties' and 'underwear'.
The new uniforms, which were introduced this month, have prompted fury among Hooters Girls, several of whom quickly took to TikTok to express their horror over the new ensembles, while showing off the 'revealing' hot pants to their followers.
Hooters' decision to introduce the derriere-baring hotpants marks a major shift in focus for the infamous 'breastaurant' - which was founded by six men in 1983 and quickly built a salacious reputation on hiring ample-chested women who serve customers while modeling cleavage-baring tank tops and T-shirts.
The uniform has always been a major focus for Hooters, which has reportedly told its staff in the past to cover up their behinds in an attempt to maintain an element of modesty and keep the focus of its customers on the workers' chests.
It may well be that Hooters' introduction of a new uniform was influenced by a 2017 report, which indicated that the restaurant's flagging sales may have been to blame - at least in part - on the changing sexual fantasies of millennial men.
At the time, Business Insider reported that 'millennials are less interested in breasts than their elders', after adult website Pornhub revealed that people between the ages of 18 and 24 were 19 per cent less likely to search for breasts when seeking X-rated content online than older generations.
In the four years since those figures were released, Hooters' business has continued to dwindle - and it seems that the company is now trying to nip the issue in the 'butt' as it were, courtesy of its new buttock-baring uniforms.
While the chain's previous uniform did also feature very short shorts, a number of the eatery's staff members say they always felt comfortable in the designs because their buttocks were completely covered.
On the other hand, the new skin-tight hotpants do quite the opposite courtesy of their very high-cut design, which some staff members have gone as far as to label 'pornographic'.
'So, this is what I'm supposed to be wearing... and I hate it,' 22-year-old Hooters bartender Kirsten Songer said while modeling her new uniform for her followers.
'The new black shorts, they do not have a bottom, they have a crotch string. So they sit like this... oh look, a wedgie!
'There is no longer anything covered by these shorts. And this is what the problem with the new shorts is, this is why all of the Hooters girls are upset. Because this is not what I agreed to wear a year ago when I was hired.'
Kirsten - who earned viral fame in July when she posted a series of videos detailing how she fakes ample cleavage for her job, despite having AA-cup breasts - tried on both her old shorts and her new to make clear the differences in the design, noting that while the original pair could not be considered demure, they covered much more skin that the updated version.
'As far as the shorts go, we have orange shorts and we have black shorts,' she explained. 'The orange shorts are if you're waitressing on the floor and they tend to run a little bit bigger.'
The bartender then tried on her old orange shorts while turning around in front of the camera to show off the fit, before then putting on the new design.
In another video, the TikTok-famous Hooters Girl joked that she was tempted to quit her job over the uniform change, explaining in her caption that she 'had seen [other] TikToks about the shorts' but was still stunned to discover just how small they really are.
'I got mine today and this is WILD,' she wrote, before reassuring her followers: 'I didn't actually quit, don't worry.'
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