The most minor events can be news if they happen at Hooters

There was recently drama at a Hooters restaurant in Plano, Texas. A group of boys came in to try to sell chocolate bars and were escorted out by a manager. In response three adults came in and assaulted the manager.

So fairly routine local news story about a hustle gone bad. But this story was also picked up nationally by Fox News. Why? It's hardly a national story. I mean, I suppose it supports Fox's concerns about black criminals, but surely there are more macabre stories to make national, nobody died here.

Well, at least something happened in that story. When this kid went to Hooters it was covered by multiple news outlets.

Here's a fun fact: Hooters has a kids menu. It's literally a family restaurant. This is news in the same way "Family goes to Applebee's" is a news story, or a most "Out of control parents let 5 year old watch PG-13 movie."

Here's a complete non event: I’m a Hooters girl – my secret hair hack gets that bouncy pageant girl look in minutes with so much volume!

This is just some waitress' hair care regiment. There is no plane of reality where this is news.

You don't even have to actually go to Hooters to make a nothing burger story, you can just mention it. If you're lucky enough to have gone through life not knowing who Nick Adams is, that luck ends now. Adams is a conservative fabulist whose penchant for shameless mythmaking stands out even amongst Republicans. On some level he must be consciously saying things that leftists will rush to fact check just to drive engagement. And he likes Hooters, a lot. His promotion of the brand caused a news story itself: Hooters and 'Alpha Male' Comments From Conservative Pundit Spark Backlash.

I mean, I guess... but everything he says creates a backlash. That's like... his brand? He's so over the top in his machismo MAGA routine that it almost feels like a parody. He's like a wrestling villain, feeding off the hate. So why did these comments warrant a Newsweek article?

Of course I'm being a bit coy here, those articles exist for the same reason this one does: it is fun to find an excuse to talk about a place full of scantily clad women. Some outlets go to this well constantly: a search of the New York Post site returns 432 articles for "Hooters." Some more respectable sources can't resist the temptation either. The Atlantic has run stories such as The End of Men, for Real: Hooters Is Desperate for Female Customers. (Did they develop a female clientele? Someone follow up on that). As a bit of a map nerd, I particularly enjoyed their most famous brand from every state article, the first map I've ever seen showing a Hooters next to Saks.

Here is something that is surprising though: this doesn't seem to happen with similar restaurants. If you search for news about Twin Peaks, a chain with a mountain lodge theme whose waitress wear more revealing outfits than Hooters, and you'll see the overwhelming results are from restaurant industry publications about the actual business.

Why does Hooters get all the tabloid coverage? Well for starters Hooters is just better known--you don't see Twin Peaks on the above map. Also though Twin Peaks has made efforts to present itself as more a upscale option with a superior menu and money clearly being spent on the wilderness décor. Hooters is proudly low brow, their motto is even "delightfully tacky yet unrefined."

So in many ways Hooters is a perfect storm: A bunch of sexy girls at well known brand purposefully geared towards the lowest common denominator. So of course we get a bunch of fluff stories about them. Here are a few more.