The Hooters Restaurant chain, best known for waitresses who serve piles of buffalo wings wearing skimpy, tight-fitting uniforms, has found itself in hot water over a Los Angeles bikini contest to raise funds for charity.
The contest, set to take place July 13, will donate money to the Los Angeles Animal Services for spay and neuter programs. The contest has been criticized by city officials, who called the event degrading to women, The Associated Press reported.
A City Controller, Laura Chick, asked if the city was “going backwards.”
“We are a city with all kinds of progressive programs that empower women and end discrimination in the workplace, and now we’re being connected with a Hooters bikini contest. It isn’t right,” she told the AP.
Flyers promoting the contest that showed a woman dressed in a bikini initially drew the ire of city officials. However, the flyers appeared to be updated to show a dog wearing a T-shirt that says “Hooters for Neuters.”
The Animal Services Director Ed Boks said that Hooters had approached him about running the charity event and that it would go on as scheduled, the report said.