Marks and Spencer support new 'Hooters' in Bristol

[JessinAvalon]

Dear all
This is my first post on here so I hope I am doing this right!

I live in Bristol and, last week, 'Hooters' was granted a licence to open in the city centre. The site is virtually opposite 3 apartment blocks, the lower floors of which are social housing and children are living in them.

What's most disappointing is that Marks and Spencer are leasing the site to 'Hooters'. They have been e-mailed by many concerned people to ask if they will reconsider leasing the building but they have just replied saying it is a "commercial decision" (as if that makes it ok!). In Sheffield, a 'Hooters' didn't even make it to application stage because the developer (Ask Pizza) realised that it would be better not to be associated with a company like 'Hooters'.

Marks and Spencer don't seem that concerned, however. Although they have signed up to the "Let Girls Be Girls" Mumsnet campaign they are not concerned about a company which sells merchandise including babygros which say "Future Hooters Girl" and "Does my butt look big in this?"

I have written to Marks and Spencer telling them that I won't be shopping in their stores again. If you feel strongly about this, please e-mail:

[email protected].

'Hooters' tries to sell itself as a family friendly restaurant but it is anything but. The Hooters in Nottingham attracts mainly stag parties and football fans. Hooters Girls take part in bikini contests and iced wet t-shirt competitions (the t-shirts are put in the freezers before the girls wear them). 'Hooters' has links to Playboy magazine....I could go on.....

I think Marks and Spencer should be shamed for facilitating this company's expansion into Bristol. They are selling women and girls down the river by leasing to this company and all just to make a "quick buck".

Thanks everyone.

I would take my DCs to Frankie and Bennies or TGI Fridays but I wouldn't take them to Hooters. I don't care about their prices or the quality of the food, it is not an appropriate place for families.

there is something worryingly Stepfordian in your posting style Mjjlisa

Do you fancy coming clean and telling us your connection with the company?

mjjlisa wrote - "Hooters is great value for money with delicious food. The atmosphere is great as well as the service."

If the food is as delicious and as great value for money as you claim, it could still be provided to customers, but in a non-sexist way.

I just ordered my boys some new school trousers from John Lewis, now there's a more ethical brand! But I had to get food at Asda and not M&S on Sunday, boooo, I hate Asda.

mjjlisa, how do you feel about the fact that Mike, one of Hooters' customers, said on here earlier that he looks forward to the Bristol branch opening because, 'I cannot wait for bitches with big tits to serve me food and beer.'

Does that make you look forward even more to going to work?

Also in The Sun

Here....and lovely comments, as expected

I do think 'puritanicle' is a very sweet spelling of 'puritanical', though.

It's a solid example of puritanism, SSM, frozen in time, like a puritanical-icicle.

Interesting article on Civitas

Also, check out the blog for the articles that have appeared today about this. Amazing!

Hooters blog

ah, it may be. I was going with the theory that it was a diminutive and hence means a little 18 inch high Puritan.

From the Civitas article:

"However we should not lose sight of the fact that businesses exist because they provide social utility.

In the case of M&S they sell clothing suitable for young children, and tied into this is their support of the ?Let Girls be Girls Campaign? which aims to stop the premature sexualisation of children.

If they are seen as supporting a company like Hooters then this social utility (that of providing suitable, non-sexual, clothing for young children) may be seen as compromised."

That Civitas article is interesting.

They seem to play it as two differing versions of corporate responsibility.... however IMO it is likely to turn out to be a bad commercial decision (ie bad for shareholders and from a purely financial POV) because of the damage it has done to the M&S brand.

Mjjlisa, are you one of those big titted bitches so admired by all the Mikes of the world?

Ok...running total so far..and these are amounts I've picked up from the following posters:

JessinAvalon
RubberDuck
HerBeatitude
TheCrackFox
BettyButterknife
Chrysanthemum
Octopusinabox
PosieParker
The Butterflyeffect
StewieGriffin'smom
PerArdua
VBusyMum

So far, it's about £10,000 this year.

And someone mentioned buying some sofas which could be another £1000-£2000k this year.

Any further offers?

There are lots of people who are not on Mumsnet who are also boycotting M&S now. In Bristol, the message went around the Bristol University Feminist Society, the Bristol Feminist Network, The Women's Institute, Bristol Rape Crisis, The Fawcett Society and members at the regional Unison conference on Saturday were also asked to boycott M&S.

Articles about this have also appeared in the India Times and on blogs in the US! It's gone international now!

Oh...and it has also gone out on Faithnet (a church group network in Bristol) and Object which has another few hundred members.

The Bristol Feminist Network alone has 350 members, the uni group 200 members, Fawcett 50, there were around 50-60 people at the regional Unison conference who were going to feed it back to their branches.

me too, although I don't spend too much there (or indeed anywhere, being broke). But you can add my perhaps £200 for bras, knickers, and food.

mine is probably just a couple of thousand a year too, all told (includes dh and what we buy for the kids).

I am more than happy to boycott M&S and email the CHairman. Seems crazy that we should have to point out to the company that it's just the wrong thing to do!!

Maybe it'll make women realise how far we still haven't come - that a restaurant like this should try and sell itself as family friendly!!!! Does it encourage breastfeeding?!?

If I were still breastfeeding I would be down there like a shot to test this...

www.theshockofthetwo.com

omg your babies are seriously cute TheShock!
are you going to put the boycott on your blog?