Richard Lewis, a former top PR executive of World Wrestling Entertainment and Hanna Barbera, has been named senior VP of PR for Baristas Coffee Company, the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain once described as a cross between Hooter’s and Starbucks.
Lewis, whose PR resume includes the global TV hit “Baywatch” and guru Tony Robbins, is charged with overseeing Baristas’ consumer and trade PR efforts.
“The consumer press will love the concept of pretty girls in provocative costume serving coffee and the trade and business media will cleave to the amazing expansion story unfolding in such a short time,” he said.
Lewis was VP of PR for Hanna-Barbera, DIC Entertainment and LBS communications during the 1990s, in addition to top posts at WWE and DQ Entertainment. On the agency side, he did stints at Rogers & Cowan and Mahoney/Wasserman.
Basistas, which has six locations in Seattle, is developing a reality show based on the “drama-filled lives of Baristas’ young attractive, female employees.”
The company was sued by the U.S. Dept. of Labor in October for failing to pay overtime and minimum wages, but