Hooters Sponsorship Creates Booblash
If you’ve ever helped a non-profit, local team or community club, you know that half the battle of keeping the organization alive is raising funds. It’s not easy and it’s certainly not fun asking people to join your cause and hear them say no.
But, I will say that once you get a yes, it’s hard not to be thrilled about it because you finally raised some much needed money to keep your organization going. After hearing so many “nos”, you may not even care who said yes, you’re just thrilled that they did.
I’m assuming this was the case for the Broadbeach Cats youth team in Australia when they received a big YES from American restaurant chain, Hooters. Not that they didn’t care who was sponsoring them but they were thrilled to receive a big boost from the restaurant.
I don’t know how many other potential sponsors the Broadbeach Cats team asked before going to Hooters, but to be fair, I’m going to assume that they asked several businesses before approaching or being approached by Hooters to sponsor the youth team.
Now, as a marketer and non-profit volunteer, I really do understand that all organizations ask a variety of businesses to be sponsors based on ethics, personal values and perceived morals of the potential sponsor that they’re approaching. All organizations want to make sure that they are aligning themselves with other businesses that hold the same values or at least haven’t been involved in salacious news lately.
So trust me when I say, I do get that some sponsors may not be the perfect fit for all organizations trying to raise money. But, I also understand that if someone is going to give me a big fat check to run my organization, I won’t say no if I’ve reviewed the business thoroughly and the only problem I have with them is their clothes.
This seems to be case with the Broadbeach Cats youth team after they came under scrutiny by Melinda Tankard Reist, a woman’s advocate, who made this claim after finding out that two Hooters waitresses cheered on the Cats at a home game: ”The message these boys are getting — and bear in mind we’re talking 15 and 16-year-old boys — is that … as a young footballer you have an entitlement to large-breasted women in skimpy outfits bouncing around at your games.”
Now, I’m not a parent, so, I won’t purport to know how a parent would feel about their son’s youth football team being sponsored by a restaurant that prides itself on hiring a bevy of beautiful women to serve up wings and beer to a mainly male audience, but I am a a business woman, who loves watching live sports, has four brothers and loves food, so, I feel confident when I say in response to Ms. Melinda Tankard Reist,
WTF?
Is that really all you took away from this team’s story? That these young boys are learning to view women as objects that are there solely for the purpose of bouncing around at a game for their carnal pleasure? Really? That’s it?
See because from an athletes’ perspective, I see a team of young boys who were probably thrilled to find out they were still in the running as a local chapter because a generous sponsor stepped up to the plate, oops, sorry, threw a touchdown, by becoming a team advocate so they could still play against other teams. As a fundraising volunteer, I see a business that was supportive enough to give money to us willingly so our boys could afford travel, meals, equipment ect for the rest of the season. A huge relief to me as a volunteer because doors were just shutting in our faces. As a spectator, I was just glad to see the team out on the field.
As a woman, I see those Hooters “cheerleaders”, the same way I see cheerleaders at a high school football game, professional football game or any other sport that has scantily clad women rooting for my team.
And, as a marketer, I see a decision that was made by a struggling organization to align itself with a well-known business entity that would help advertise football games in its restaurant, encourage attendance in the stands, create visibility online and off and of course donate large amounts of funds to keep an organization thriving.
What I don’t see in having those two waitresses cheer on that team, is the ridiculous idea that these young boys honestly think and believe that they are entitled to having “large-breasted women in skimpy outfits bouncing around” for their enjoyment.
Has anyone asked these young boys if they feel that way at all? Or, is Melinda assuming that because these are 15 and 16-year-old boys that they MUST be thinking this way because of course all male boys objectify women and want to subjugate them to derogatory acts of bouncing and wearing skimpy clothes. What does that say to the parents of those young boys? It says that those parents raised some dirty boys and should be ashamed of themselves. I’m not a parent, but I’d hate for anyone to talk about my son if they didn’t know him personally!
What critics have forgotten is that the point of this sponsorship is to help a youth team stay open not encourage the de-humanization of women. Instead of focusing on their personal feelings aboutHooters waitresses outfits, which in my opinion are far less skimpy then those cheerleader outfits, critics should be focusing on what Hooters has made possible for this young team. Critics should also think about next season when the Cats can’t find a sponsor to fund the full season because their biggest and best sponsor decided to lose possession of the team after being overly criticized by people who weren’t willing to give money in the first place.
To the Broadbeach Cats football players, I say keep taking names and kicking ass and to all you critics, either put up or shut up.
Jasmine D.S. Torres
aka MzMarketing

Have Boobs, Will Sponsor by Jasmine D.S. Torres is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at backporch.fanhouse.com
Quote For The Day, 2010, March 22
The state of consumption is not driven so much by the desire to learn anymore but by the desire to know. With access to too much we sometimes forget to stop and learn instead of just running and knowing.
—Jasmine DS Torres
Apolo Ohno, The Elder Statesman
It’s official. Apolo Ohno is the old dude in the rink. Most people watching these games know that Ohno is the most seasoned skater, as well as, the oldest guy in the sport. And, if you’ve watched any of his interviews, you’ll hear him time and again refer to himself as “Grandpa”.
With the 2010 Winter Olympic games coming to a close, and this most likely being his last olympic run, Ohno will be the speed skater that all young aspiring speed skating athletes look up to. As evidenced by teammate and bronze medal winner, J.R. Celski,who’s eight years Apolos’ junior and stated that Ohno is one of the reasons he switched to speedskating at the age of twelve.
Looking back at the Torino Games, Ohno was in great shape but somewhere towards 2010, he realized that great wasn’t good enough for Vancouver. Knowing that his competition would be younger, fiercer and faster, he decided to drastically reduce his body weight from 165 pounds to 145 pounds with only 2.8% bodyfat. In addition to his weight loss, he also changed his skating style, going from power skater to technical skater.
Obviously, Ohno knew that being lighter and stronger, coupled with his veteran knowledge, would give him the edge he needed to medal over his much younger competitors.
With his sixth and seventh wins in Vancouver, Ohno’s decision paid off.
And even though 27 years of age is far from being old, in a sport where speed, endurance and agility have been known to knock out skill and knowledge, most athletes would agree that age can play a big factor in continuing to be at the top.
As we all look forward to Ohno’s final individual run and team relay, let’s hope that veteran knowledge and skill will continue to put Ohno on the podium.
Jasmine DS Torres
aka MzMarketing

Apolo Ohno, The Elder Statesman by Jasmine DS Torres is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.