the tech industry is male dominated but does sex really sell tech?
Last week´s CES showed that the tech industry still believes sex sells. Do we really need models ´wearing more makeup than clothing´ to get you into the booth and look at products?
And an even better question: is it effective? Yes, some people will stop to look at the girls and accept a leaflet, but are they even remotely interested in your product?
From personal experience visiting CES, its European counter partner IFA, and Germany based Cebit (the largest consumer show in the world) I can say it´s just distracting and makes me skip a booth.
I feel slightly embarrassed and can´t get myself to ask serious questions about a product to a model which was only hired for her looks. Don´t forget that CES is targeted solely at professionals. The general audience is not allowed in and most pros have a busy agenda.
I can´t remember seeing so many booth babes on the European IFA show last September, but maybe I just didn´t notice as I am focused on real technology.
Isn´t it remarkable that this American show with its strict Not Safe For Work policy freely uses almost naked girls to draw your attention? Would you buy a tech magazine if it showed a nice girl on the cover? Would you more easily pick a leaflet from a booth babe and crucial question: would you remember the product or the girl?
What´s your take? Keep them coming or do you get more excited by seeing technological innovations?
written by: Max Huijgen
Its a woman's choice what she wants to do with her body.
I too would do it, if I could find someone who would pay to look…. however I am a mere man, an ugly one at that !
+Max Huijgen I think it is an insult to the professionals that attend to see the latest in technology. I was a model, all dressed, at car shows handing out brochures, etc., always acted professionally – but it didn't hurt that I was attractive. These women are barely wearing anything. And yes, I agree, it does cheapen the industry and demeans women – and men who stand there gawking with their mouths open and can be so easily distracted and mesmerized. There is that old saying, "if you haven't seen it before – you don't know what it is, and if you have seen it before – it is no thrill."
Odd how neighbouring stream posts can oddly complement each other. Beside your question was a post stating "I heard this morning on a newscast that a recent poll showed that Generation Y ranked Facebook more of an essential than food, shelter, or sex. "
So, in a sense, modern surveys would imply that the tech should be a bigger draw, more so than the babes, or even food!
Good point +Rod Dunne🙂 +Erica Lucarotti if have nothing against the women who do this work. It´s a miserable world of agencies which can´t get proper jobs for their girls so they get booked just to show their body, but they all hope they will eventually get a ´real´ booking.
My question was targeted at the effect and if we really want to see this.
Just notice +Jussta Jussta post who probably knows more about the hierarchy in the agencies.
I have organised a number of trade shows and we certainly did hire a model to do demos together with the usually male industry pundits. However we did so because we know men feel a bit more at ease if they have to sit in f.i. a cramped simulator. But they were dressed just like the rest of us and were properly trained on our products.
If a company decides that they need skimpily dressed women to sell their product, said product isn't worth buying. I'd suggest actively boycotting companies who feel insecure enough to resort to such practices. Totally with +Jussta Jussta on this one.
Proper jobs? Since when is it up to
youanyone to deem what "proper" for someone else? The whole thing about women being empowered is that they can choose their own decisions. Some women out there have amazing bodies and if they so choose to make a living off it, then its their choice. Its insulting that some of you even think that this is something that your opinion is even welcomed on. Its not up to you, its up to the women themselves.Sorry +Erica Lucarotti but these women have nothing to say about the issue. Will they be hired by tech companies or not is the question. That they are available is well known.
+Erica Lucarotti As far as I'm concerned women are fine to be nothing more than eyecandy to be gawked at. They're not there to be intelligent or anything more than sex on heels.
Totally fine with me.
I just won't buy from the company who hired them. That's my own decision.
Nothing to say? I feel like the act of taking the job or not says a lot. Who is anyone to tell a woman what she can do with her body?
Women arent allowed to take modeling jobs anymore? Since when does anyone else have a say? The fact that some of you feel that its up to you what women do for a living is insulting.
+Erica Lucarotti Why the aggression? Nobody said that women can't take modelling jobs. We just don't like them parading around half-naked at events like CES. We're entitled to that opinion.
Hurts women? The idea that its up to anyone else besides herself ,what she does for a living hurts women. I dont feel like im expressing agression at all. But I do wonder what this message is sending to the women who do this for a living. Is it shameful? Does she hurt other women by doing this? No! But its sending a strong message that if a woman decides to make a living this way, that she is hurting other women.
To me the female body is something to be adored and treasured. Women have the ability to decide for themselves what is appropriate for their bodies and their living. The idae that they cant make that decision on their own is whats insulting.
But im going to bed. As much as i want to discuss this with u all, my gf and my comfy bed calls to me. Priorities. See you all again tomorrow morning. Ill have coffee then, so be prepared. <3
Yes of course…. in tech and any single thing in this world, just take a look at the advertisements on TV, or movies, or music videos… everything
And what do you all think of the NSFW policy in the US? How does the prudent stance combined with the effort to protect women against harassment fit in?
Did anyone else visit IFA in September? Was it similar in that European counterpart show to CES?
Good point +Max Huijgen I wasn't in IFA but I was in other events and I can tell you that in Europe is not the same but still
+Max Huijgen small correction, do you mean 'prudish' and not 'prudent'? there's an important difference 😉
I'm all for booth bunnies as long as there's also scantily clad young men…
But really, who decided tech should be marketed only to men? BT in the UK did a survey of people who bought wireless routers through their deals – 70 percent were purchased AND INSTALLED by the women of the household.
This does not mean I want my new back-up drive to come in pink – I just don't want to be treated as an idiot by the sales rep, or invisible by the expo organisers.
End of rant.
I don't think it sells as much in the internet age, however, I am distracted when seeing stunning beauty in person. These women aren't dumb either. Problem is, there's always ten jerks asking for her number, as if they think they'll get lucky. Even if they did go home with her, they wouldn't know what to do with such a woman!
I didn't actually read the piece by Kate Bevan but I'll tell you this.
Sex sells now and it always will. It will (dunno if it should, I don't care tbh) stick around at CES and other shows for as long as the majority of visitors are men.
Women grab men's attention. It's safe, it works and it's cost effective. Why would anyone need to think of other ways? Those who do can get rewarded for it or miss the target, so yeah, half-naked ladies are the sure-fire way to go 🙂
If your product is lame, sex will get attention. If it's great, sex just distracts
+Frann Leach are you seriously saying that if you have a good product sex will only distract, but it will get attention if it's lame? I can't process that logic, must be a woman thing 🙂
+Kristin Milton excellent point about that survey showing women being in charge of the home(network) 🙂
And more in general yes women buy laptops, tablets, phones, they love their accessories so why market it to men? The thing with CES and European IFA is that it are not consumer shows.
That´s why I´m even more shocked to see CES filled with booth babes. There are about a 140.000 professionals flying from all over the world to get up to speed, make deals etc. From what I recall from my own visits the majority is indeed male.
So see here the double problem: man are making these decisions while their target group is maybe 40% female so why don´t they make sure they have a women in this position as well who has her own take on products.
And why would a pro really wants to have his agenda ruined by staring at a few girls. We have beaches for that.
Personal experience using a booth babe at big shows: it works to get people to engage.
But if the demographic that is attracted by hot girls is not a prime candidate to buy your tech, your marketing dollar is being wasted.
I'm trying to remember what the model was like when the iphone was introduced…oh yeah balding, black turtleneck and jeans.
If the gadget/gear/computer/whatever is awesome you don't need models, scantily clad or otherwise to gain attention. But if it's snake oil or a half baked product competing with 100s of other similar products you need every advantage you can get. And that's why some companies think they need models like this at CES.
Semi related link… http://jalopnik.com/5449945/auto-show-booth-babe-smacks-men-down-spills-secrets
many plusses for +bok choy 🙂
BTW: I notice this topic gets much more comments than plusses. Remarkable.
+Jeff Jockisch but if you would look at CES; professionals only?
+Max Huijgen Not sure I would ban them from CES, but agree it would be better without them…
But then how do you decide if someone is a "booth babe"? Skirt height? IQ test? Product knowledge?
Slippery slope.
If the girls at the booths are wearing significantly less than the audience, then they are booth babes, +Jeff Jockisch 🙂
P.S.: I wouldn't respond favourably to someone calling me a 'babe' 😛
+Jeff Jockisch I meant that the audience was professional only. Not that I only wanted to see professionally naked girls 🙂 Banning no, but CES could take the lead and make suggestions for what they expect from an exhibitor.
You don´t need a benchmark and using IQ would get a lot of male exhibitors removed as well.
if you were promoing a video card that has the most lifelike graphics for something like a Tomb Raider game, and you had a model dressed as Lara Croft, I could get behind that. If it's lingerie models prancing around to get people to come see what the new intel chip, dell laptop, samsung TV, or even (if they were at the show) apple gadget looks like, that's not going to do it for me.
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but if you want to go to vegas to see skin, and gadgets, why not overlap your stay so you can see CES one week and the AEE the next.;)
Another good point from +bok choy . Is it in context to have dancing girls (whether dressed minimally or tastefully) presenting a new laptop or CPU chip? Maybe more of the press coverage of trade shows should be about how the companies choose to market their product. If the tech press selected a "most tasteless vendor presence" award or something similar, it would not take long for change to happen. Models (male or female) are a time honored tradition in advertising. It helps the viewers imagine themselves using the product. There are appropriate ways to use models to demonstrate or draw attention to your products. But using skin is demeaning to the models, and it also says a lot about what the vendors think of the audience.
You are certainly not in the minority +bok choy Heck you can do CES during work hours and spend your evenings in one of the many clubs Vegas hosts. The number of cars driving around during CES with references to hookers are uncountable.
I like your plan +Ray Shaw I will get this back to the rest of the +EuroTech page and see if we can do this for large events. Excellent idea.
I'm totally in favour of +Ray Shaw's idea too 😀 I think it could be awesome 🙂
Much like the 'worst gadgets of CES' award many sites do 🙂
All we now need is volunteers to count babes. Maybe advertise the voluntary job on the next game show 🙂
I'd have to say that I'm with +Erica Lucarotti, +bok choy and +Ray Shaw on this one.
The fact is that sex sells and fantasies sell very well (or Hollywood would never have been). I also find it immensly offensive that the conversation here is based on the common missconception that intelligence is inversely proportional to beauty and that the boothbabe (female or male) should be concidered a helpless victim without choice. We are not talking about trafficking of sexslaves for underground brothels or even regular sexworkers which seems to be implied.
Boothbabes are humans and have feelings, a life and are just as smart and dumb as the rest of us.
I most certainly do not mind boothbabes though I prefere to have them in context as a boothbabe for the sake of having a boothbabe is a pretty booring idea.
If Carmen Electra came out in full Victorias Secret get up to launch nVidias next chip, it would just be silly and weird. however if say Rommie the avatar of the spaceship Andromeda of the TV series" Andromeda Ascendant" or SevenOfNine came out on scene I'd have a laugh and thought that was pretty clever.
What I do mind is the treatment of BoothBabes as objects, objects are quite unsexy and usually dont hit you over the head with blunt objects, humans do, not objects.
Also read this
http://jalopnik.com/5449945/auto-show-booth-babe-smacks-men-down-spills-secrets
Also more by the Unnamed BoothBabe here
http://doyoucomewiththecar.blogspot.com/
I've worked in the fashion industry for a very short period of time (3 months) as an assistant to a fashion photographer. It crusched most of my preconceptions about models. Most are quite humble, intelligent and fun people. Yes some eat like a small turtle or like an aligator (one chicken sets them for the month), others eat a mountain of food and are still skinny as hell. There are of cource exceptions but you can say that for any profession.
Frankly I find Toddlers & Tiaras more offensive than the boothbabe issue.
But +chris vighagen +Erica Lucarotti took a completely different take. Nothing in the article suggests that there is something amiss with the booth girls themselves, it´s about their employment.
And yes, I know the agencies, have spoken with the girls and they all consider it the worst of jobs. It´s completely down at the food chain of the modelling world. Most of them hate the job but it brings in money.
The subject is: do we want to see them on tech trade fairs, often shivering as they are under dressed, with a one size fits all revealing outfit which makes some of them look pathetic as their boobs fall out non stop so they look embarrassed.
I hate so see it and often have a chat with them when I encounter them during their ten minutes break and they usually are not very happy with it. Most of them are not pro´s but girls just hoping for a break in the real modelling world.
So no, I don´t want to see it and when I do, it makes me doubt the product and that´s key.
I clicked on the link to the article because of the picture of the "booth babes", but I didn't read the article, nor would a product advertising in this manner make me more likely to make a purchase.
It's a free world, so go right ahead and use sex to sell your product (I'm an average guy, so I will be "forced" to look, but I really don't think that it makes that much difference to me one way or the other.)
Not sure I would personally pay to have girls like that hang around my booth, but if someone else wants to pay to have then hang around a booth within my eyesight, then hey — it's your dime, and as long as my looking doesn't cost me anything, then good luck to you and the girls.
At least a very honest reaction +David Landry
Thanks Max and Maya! I have about one good idea a decade, so it looks like I'm headed for a dry spell. I do think it would be fun to do at least once, but I don't know how many would be willing to risk being blacklisted by the "winner". Kind of like how Apple is known to not invite certain people to their events.
+Max Huijgen Yes, I have to admit that a pretty woman in limited dress attracts my attention … but I certainly do not believe that I have any right to tell anyone how they are to dress or earn their living … but I do think that a company using this technique, while they may get me to their booth, are probably standing a better chance of having me disrespect their product for this kind of advertising than it would having me buy it because they tweaked my libido.
+Ray Shaw I don´t think we EuroTechies are afraid of organizing and publishing it. By the way did you all circle the +EuroTech pages as that is the source for this post.
I can live without the plusses on my own topic, but if you are interested in more refreshing takes from an European point of view please circle the page.
+David Landry if your libido would be an accepted method of payment it could work, but all it does it redirect the blood from your brains 🙂
+Max Huijgen I'm adding the +EuroTech pages right now!
+Max Huijgen sorry about the late response – I don't think the gender balance at these events actually reflects the balance in the work place. Certainly in my (very, very niche) IT field, we know 60% of the people doing the work are women, and yet we only have 10% representation in our professional organisations. For whatever reason, it seems women are less likely to participate in IT networking, conference and expo events. Maybe something to do with the booth bunnies…
G+ is open 24/7 +Kristin Milton so no probs. Maybe something to do with the problem in general that women are underrepresented in all higher executive functions.
+Max Huijgen But even the women who are in those levels don't seem to be at the visible events… which exaggerates the gap, and makes stuff like booth bunnies seem like a good idea.
Well +Kristin Milton I must say I meet a fair amount of women in executive positions as part of the exhibitors team. Strangely enough though the visitors (even at pro events closed for the public) are much more male dominated.
I´m at a loss to explain that. I hope someone else has a clue. Calling +A.V. Flox and maybe +Mari Thomas has some experience with trade shows?
I'd love to join this conversation and jump in-depth but I'm on deadline with a week of projects that I need to get ready before leaving for #scio12. I'll be back to my leisurely self and ready to enter conversations next week Monday. xo
We´ll keep the thread alive until you´re your leisurely self then 🙂 +A.V. Flox It will be a challenge.
+Max Huijgen I have some theories about it, but perhaps this conversation deserves it's own thread? I'd like to hear what +A.V. Flox has to say about it, too.
+A.V. Flox is on her way to change the world of science which is another thing I intend to follow but for now +Kristin Milton feel free to use this thread. We are still close enough to the subject.
+Violet Blue posted on her blog Friday on this subject. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/the-ces-2012-booth-babe-problem/963 . It may be less female members of the tech community choose not to go because of the insulting presentation of women, as well as the insulting behavior of some of the men in attendance. But the demographics of the science and technology are sectors changing ( young women are graduating with science degrees in greater numbers than young men, and more women are pursuing graduate degrees than there are men pursuing. In ten or fifteen years men may be avoiding CES because of feeling uncomfortable by the portrayal of men as "booth boys". To be truthful, I don't know how these statistics hold up globally, but here in the United States women could very well be the tech movers and shakers within our lifetimes. Oops, that didn't come out right. A better way to say it is that women could very well be the leaders and and controlling figures in technology in the not very distant future.
OK +Max Huijgen Three theories on why capable executive women in tech neither attend nor present at techie conferences and events:
1. An older exec once said to me that when you are the only women on the board, they want you everywhere – on every committee, on every board – at least in part so they can show off that they HAVE a woman. Being a token fills your day with obligations that others don't have.. when something optional like a conference comes along, you are less likely to have the time to attend.
2. I know a lot of female execs who minimise all travel to spend more time with their kids. This seems to kick in for more women than men, even if the men have small kids too.
3. The rounding down – recruitment people know that men will apply for jobs if they only have half the required skills – women think they need more than 60%. So even capable women often don't think they are capable at representing at these events.
4. The perception that these events are boys clubs (not helped by booth bunnies) and that being a minority woman at these events makes you the target of unwanted attention. This is similar but not unrelated to the idea that these things are junkets – women can feel the need to prove themselves more than their male colleagues and will avoid going to these things to prove they are serious.
Oops. 4. I know there is a lot of generalisation in here, but these are my theories based on my experience.
If you put some paragraph white in it, it´s easier to read +Kristin Milton It´s past my bedtime as I´´m European, hence the share of the +EuroTech page so it´s very late over here. Catch up with this thread tomorrow.
Why does this topic has 62 comments and only 5 plusses?
I was tempted to +1 your last comment 😉 Seems like a hot potato topic. Something both sexes have strong opinions on which a simple +1 doesn't satisfy. Have you reached out to the Women of Google+ circle on this?
Nope +Rod Dunne as I didn´t know of their existence.
Underneath the original post I have added some comments from the video the BBC made:
Gary Shapiro, boss of CES, says it´s on it´s way out, but that sex does sell.
the boss of EagleEyeIT deserves a mention for his down to earth observation that he doesn´t trust the company if they need booth babes.
Check the video at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16533289
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/the-ces-2012-booth-babe-problem/963.
Some quotes from booth babes based on the BBC video in the post above:
I don’t know any women [interested in technology]. I don’t know any women that would choose the tech world over shopping or cooking or taking care of kids.
Male CES attendee to booth babe: “Be sure to to give me your number so we can discuss this later on tonight.”
(She does not respond.) “There’s a lot you’ll have to tell me.”
(She turns away.) “Okay?”
Booth babe: “No!”
It seems indeed to be a hot potato 🙂 +Rod Dunne
but as long as people circle +EuroTech as their source of information I don´t mind.
What is sex-positive +H. Censored Stencil ? I know HIV positive.
Which reminds me that +A.V. Flox must be back now +H. Censored Stencil I knew this topic would last the week 🙂
Hmm, no +A.V. Flox here? Topic died apparently.
Just to kick start things again.
I've been thinking about this from an outsiders view. I have never been to CES or E3. I have however been to quite a few NerdCons (Mostly combined animation/comicbooks/tabletopgames/consolgames convention)
At these conventions the crowd are quite a bit younger than the average CES attende, or at least thats what I imagine.
The difference is that at the conventions of this kind, part from the age, is the gender dispersion which according to the convention arrangers I've spoken to usually is very close to 50/50.
Also cosplaying is very, very, popular.
And sometimes the clothing is, lets just say, minimal.
http://www.cosplay.com/photos/
Harrasment at these cons do exist but is not just frown upon it is strongly and activley policed. Also some of those battle axes are quite functional, and detriment to the perps health.
I've spoken to a few cosplayers and they have never felt used, abused, harrased, exploited or that what they do is shamefull.
+Elise Rosberg who I know is a proud cosplayer might have some views on this.
The CES and the E3 are just a more commercial version of the geek cons, the basics context is there. I think the major difference is the audience.