Woke Is Dead and Corporate Courage Is in resurgence

A global shift toward clarity and balance: why common sense is redefining business and branding.

What Hooters’ Comeback Says About the Return of Common Sense

The past four years have been a cultural hangover for America. The land of the free briefly lost its sense of humour and, in many ways, its sense of self. But like all overcorrections, the pendulum was bound to swing back.

Now, as British populist commentator Piers Morgan titled his latest book, Woke Is Dead: How Common Sense Triumphed in an Age of Total Madness, the U.S. is rediscovering balance, not by regressing, but by reclaiming sanity. And few stories capture that shift better than the Hooters revival.

After years of dilution under corporate ownership, the original founders have taken back control of their brand. Their mission? To restore the unapologetic spirit that made Hooters an icon: simple food, strong service culture, and a playful, unmistakable identity.

When They Asked Me to Bring Hooters Back to Australia

A few years ago, as Group CEO of a network of companies specialising in franchise consulting, law, and recruitment, I was approached by an intermediary to explore bringing Hooters to Australia. On paper, it should have been a textbook franchise expansion, an established U.S. concept with global recognition - and in the case of Hooters – a re-entry into the Aussie market.

In reality, it was like pitching a bonfire during a rainstorm.

Australia had become one of the most “careful” markets on earth, a place where humour was suspect, and commercial confidence was mistaken for arrogance. Every meeting with landlords or prospective partners came with the same nervous question: “But will Australians accept it?”

Fear had replaced appetite. No one wanted to take a risk that might be labelled “insensitive.”

The irony, of course, was that Australians would have loved it. The brand’s cheeky warmth and relaxed Americana fit our larrikin culture perfectly, a culture that some may say has been eroded in recent times.

In the end, the climate wasn’t ready, not for Hooters in Australia, and not for much else that dared to stand out.

America’s Cultural Reset

Meanwhile, across the Pacific, the U.S. was starting to self-correct. After years of corporate moral posturing and cultural confusion, people began craving common sense realness again. Brands that had bent over backwards to appease every opinion found themselves hollowed out.

When the Hooters founders stepped back in, in my humble opinion, they weren’t rejecting progress, they were rejecting nonsense. They saw what too many executives missed: people respect brands that know who they are.

Their new direction is refreshingly simple, a tighter menu, renewed hospitality, and a confident return to the original “Hooters Girl” image, framed not as a stereotype but as a celebration of fun, confidence, and connection.

Why Australia Still Feels a Step Behind

Australia, by contrast, still seems stuck in its own polite identity crisis. We’ve mistaken corporate virtue signalling for leadership. Even LinkedIn, once a hub for professional insight, has turned into a digital group hug, a place where posts about “authentic vulnerability” drown out genuine debate or innovation.

I see it constantly, in franchising, in recruitment, in boardrooms. Marketing teams are briefed to “avoid risk.” Lawyers are asked to make everything “bulletproof.”  Too many brands are paralysed by the fear of offence, and too few leaders are willing to speak plainly. It reminds me of the time a corporate director (read "bureaucrat") demanded that we create a manual on "avoiding offending readers in social media."

In that climate, brands with personality are punished, not celebrated. It’s why so many Australian franchises feel interchangeable: safe, sterile, and devoid of spark.

In a world obsessed with being liked, very few brands are truly loved.

But that’s changing. Cultural fatigue always breeds course correction. Just as the U.S. is rediscovering its backbone, Australia will eventually tire of the noise. When that happens, the brands that stayed true to themselves, the ones that refused to apologise for their essence, will be the ones standing tall.

The Lesson for Franchisors and Founders

The Hooters story isn’t about nostalgia, it’s about brand integrity. In franchising, that lesson is gold. You cannot build loyalty on ambiguity. Franchise networks succeed when the founder’s DNA runs through every unit, not when the business bends itself into cultural pretzels.

Clarity beats compromise.

Whether you sell pizza, property, or personality, good old-fashioned realness is your greatest commercial asset. The brands that will thrive over the next decade are those that remember what they stand for, and stand by it.

So yes, woke may be dead, but more importantly, courage is making a comeback.

And when it does, maybe, just maybe... we’ll see that orange-and-white logo shining in Australia again, not as controversy reborn, but as confidence restored.