A friend told me that TGI Friday’s stopped their practice of having workers wear “flair” (buttons, hats, etc.) after the movie “Office Space” came out.
For those who haven’t seen the movie, Jennifer Aniston’s character works at one of those TGIFriday’s/Chili’s/Appleby’s/Olive Garden/etc. franchises. She’s counseled on only wearing the minimum 15 pieces of flair while a coworker goes above and beyond.
Urban legend has it that for TGIF to continue their practice of wearing flair, it would seem as if it were poking fun at itself and become the object of ridicule.
Does anyone know if there’s any truth to this? My internet resources fail me…
I personally think that any company that’s clueless enough to require their employees to wear flair in the first place would be insightful enough to realize that the movie was making fun of them. But that’s just MHO.
The people working at all the TGI Friday’s around here are usually completely loaded down with flair, so if TGIF made a policy change, it wasn’t for their entire network.
In any case, I’d say it was an urban legend. “Office Space” wasn’t that influential a movie, and the ‘flair’ scene was neither central to the plot nor did it make some “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”-level statement on the injustice of flair. I doubt they noticed.
If they were clueful, they’d realize that keeping the flair would be a good thing; that is, they could capitalize on the infamy, not try to separate themselves from it.
Here in Dallas Friday’s has been trying out various new variations on their concept. At the Friday’s I am most familiar with, they eliminated wearing “flair” (and the striped shirts) when they decided to try to be a bit more upscale. Also now they are remodeling for a hipper and younger type environment. They seem to be having a bit of an identity crisis, although I think the new president has added to that perseption.
Bottom line though, none of this has to do with Office Space AFAIK.
Very true, but we’re talking years separation here. If they dropped it within a year or two, I would agree. But since it was more like 3 years, I don’t think there’s a connection.
At the TGIF’s near me (on Long Island), they’ve switched from the flair and striped shirts to a much nicer black polo shirt, which I think had a little red and white striping on the trim of the collar. Something like that. I think that this change only happened like 2 or 3 years ago.
The movie wasn’t much of a success when it was in the theaters, was it? Most people I know only saw it once it came out on the premium channels. Now, it’s on Comedy Central, and is getting much more exposure than it did in its initial release. In a way, it stands to reason that a reaction would be delayed this long, owing to the fact that the movie has only recently been widely seen.
It’s funny you should ask, because a bunch of us were at TGIF the other day joking about how the wait-people never wear flair anymore, and one of the waitresses happened to overhear and told us that it was indeed because of the movie that their manager told them to stop wearing all that crap.
I’m surprised our friends at 20th Century Fox don’t have a lawsuit on their hands
The movie wasn’t very popular at its release, but since has acquired a cult following amongst cubicle-dwelling workers everywhere. I agree that the exposure on Comedy Central has helped that.
I think they avoided a lawsuit by using a fictional restaurant name and coining the word “flair,” but I could be wrong. Wouldn’t you feel stupid suing them? “They’re making fun of us! I’m telling!”
But from the majority of responses to my post, I’d say that it sounds as if TGIF’s is randomly trying out different things in different areas.
Just keep telling yourself, “It’s only a movie…it’s only a movie…”
