Globalization Gone Wild: Hooters Opens in China

I was watching The Tonight Show tonight and Jay Leno was doing some joke on Hooters opening branches in China. I did a quick Google search to see if this was true – and it is! According to the ABC News story “Globalization Gone Wild: Hooters Opens in China – China’s Olympic Preparations Include Western-Style Restaurants for Tourists“:

“And now, with the opening of its 435th branch in Beijing, Hooters is now being touted as a barometer for globalization…With the 2008 Summer Olympic Games just 11 months away, Beijing has set about sprucing itself up for the surge of sports fans, media and tourists — refurbishing its airport, updating security systems and launching foreigner-friendly restaurants…Although Hooters Beijing is the Alabama-based restaurant’s fourth branch in China, this opening is making waves. It was one thing when the first Hooters opened in the more cosmopolitan Shanghai in 2004, but in conservative Beijing, the “Hooters Makes You Happy” mentality feels a little more out of place.”

Well, I definitely agree that Shanghai is a lot more cosmopolitan and modern than Beijing, but I’m not sure Beijing (or China for that matter) needs a Hooters, but I’ll be sure the next time I’m in China (for investigative 8asians.com hard hitting journalism :-))