Spearmint Rhino

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Spearmint Rhino is a chain of strip clubs that operates throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Central Europe, Russia and Australia. The company was started by John Gray. The name "Spearmint Rhino" is a euphemism for the more salacious term "Hot and Horny".

In Britain, the chain has two clubs each in London and Birmingham, as well as clubs in Norwich, Bournemouth, Sheffield, Slough (Berkshire), and Heathrow (Colnbrook). All the UK locations provide topless dances (£10) and fully nude dances (£20). The chain's flagship London club was the first in the UK to offer fully nude dancing, prompting a "dirty war" with its main rival Stringfellow's, which at the time was topless-only. Peter Stringfellow sent private detectives armed with hidden cameras to videotape the going-ons in the private booths at Rhino. The revelations of dancers offering oral and full penetrative sex led to a national scandal, with the club losing its license briefly, before regaining it after giving assurances to clean up its act. Shortly afterwards, Stringfellow's went fully-nude.

The UK clubs differ from Spearmint Rhino's U.S. venues by not having an emphasis on guest visits by porn stars. The company's London venue, on Tottenham Court Road, is considered to be their flagship club in the UK. The company headquarters, along with its American flagship club, are located in the Norco, California.

In April 2006, the Slough club made the headlines when Prince Harry visited the club for a party celebrating the end of his training at Sandhurst.^[1]

[edit] Pop culture

On the Australian TV show "The Footy Show", host Sam Newman mentioned visiting the Spearmint Rhino.

In the South Park episode "The Return of Chef", the boys take Chef to a strip club called the "Peppermint Hippo", an obvious spoof. They also visit the strip club in "L'il Crime Stoppers" when trying to bust an amphetamine business.

In the Drawn Together episode "Ghostesses in the Slot Machine", Clara's father, a king, frequents a strip club called "Ye Spearmint Unicorn." Clara is upset that her father tells the strippers there that he loves them, but he has never expressed his love for her.

The Spearmint Rhino franchise is the subject of a documentary series in the UK entitled "Inside the Spearmint Rhino". The series is hosted by Simon O'Brien and broadcast on Bravo in the UK.^[2]

Spearmint Rhino was the target destination in one of the second hand car challenges of Top Gear, with presenter James May mistakenly calling it "Peppermint Rhinoceros". However, none of the presenters made it to the destination.

In the episode of Entourage titled "Return of the King" Ari Gold makes a joke referring to the fact that Vince's agent at the time, Amanda, worked a stint at the Spearmint Rhino

The Spearmint Rhinos is also the name of a flag football team in Hoover, AL. The Rhinos have finished 1st (Spring 2007) and 2nd (Fall 2007) during their two seasons in the Hoover Men's Flag Football League.