How Hooters Crossed the Line

The main goals of this ESL lesson are:

• – understand the factors impacting the value of a brand
• – improve business vocabulary
• – debate strategic decisions companies face when confronted with brand dilution

In this advanced lesson plan students learn how business can succeed or fail by staying true or straying from their brand identity.

Warm-up

After looking a number of examples of brand dilution students decide which ones would be most damaging to a brand.

Video

The students watch a video “Hooters CEO on Pivot: No More ‘Butt Cheeks Hanging Out’.” After watching the video students summarize it using the provided phrases.

Reading

Next, students dive into three short articles:

– Inside the Hooters heyday: How the ‘original American wing joint’ could go from busty to bust following a string of controversies, as the chain faces potential bankruptcy

– The End of Men, for Real: Hooters Is Desperate for Female Customers

– Hooters is Fading — And It’s a Warning for Every Business

To each of the articles there are tasks attached: answering questions, summarizing the article, and filling in missing words.

Discussion

Students discuss whether companies should protect their brand identity at all cost or reinvent themselves to face contemporary challenges.