EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EXPLOITATION?

"A lot of places serve good burgers," Hooters Vice President Mike McNeil told a news conference Wednesday. "The Hooters Girls, with their charm and all-American sex appeal, are what our customers come for." Under an Equal Opportunity Commission order to -- gasp -- hire men to work alongside the Hooters girls, McNeil struck back with a Washington news conference-cum-pep rally designed to protest the decision. Fighting for its corporate life as well as the right to burgers served by waitresses in extremely tight tank tops, the company has taken out full-page ads featuring a swarthy man wearing the distinctive Hooters uniforms in several national newspapers. The 170-restaurant chain plans to spend $1 million in advertising to protest the EEOC decision.