Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Home

Millennials have a new attitude about cleavage that's forcing 'breastaurant' Hooters to close locations and change its strategy

hooters waitresses
Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters

Millennials are less interested in breasts than their elders.

Advertisement

People from the age of 18 to 24 are 19% less likely to search for breasts on pornographic website Pornhub compared to all other age groups, according to an analysis conducted by the website.

For comparison, Pornhub visitors from the ages of 55 to 64 are 17% more likely to search for breast-related content.

Millennials' pornography preferences seem to be part of a wider trend.

"At the moment, larger breasts are out, though I’m sure they’ll come back," Sarah Pedersen, professor of communications and media at Robert Gordon University, told Playboy. "We tend to react to what went before."

Advertisement

For "breastaurants" like Hooters and Twin Peaks, a loss of interest in breasts is bad for business. The number of Hooters locations in the US has dropped by more than 7% from 2012 to 2016, and sales have stagnated, according to industry reports.

Hoots
Hooters opened a fast-casual location with fully clothed servers called Hoots earlier in 2017. Hoots

Part of Hooters' struggles are tied to the sales slump that is hitting most sit-down causal-dining chains. But a lack of interest in waitresses' cleavage — especially when there are breastaurants like Twin Peaks promising more scandalous experiences elsewhere — likely isn't helping.

Hooters has struggled to win over millennials for some time now. In 2012, the chain attempted to revamp its image with updated decor and new menu items to attract more millennial and female customers.

"For years they've only been working toward Generation X, but now they need to try to get millennials to come through the doors," Darren Tristano of food industry consulting company Technomic told Time in 2012.

Advertisement

In light of the decline of breasts' influence in America, it comes as no surprise that Hooters has been emphasizing catering and opened up a fast-casual location with fully clothed servers — women and men.

While porn habits may change, millennials still love chicken wings.

Read next

Retail
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account