Car Show 'Booth Babes' May Be Next To Get The Boot

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Remember when "Formula 1 and its FAI ruling body decided to ban the use of promotional models, known as grid girls, from its events because they don't resonate with the brand values of F1 and clearly is at odds with modern-day societal norms"? Well... this time "booth babes" frequently featured at car shows are being phased out as well.

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Whereas a year ago blondes in tight mini dresses and stiletto heels would greet onlookers at Ssangyong Motor’s display at the Geneva car show, when the annual event reopens this week, the South Korean manufacturer’s "booth babes" will be gone, replaced by male and female models covered in boring sportswear to promote its line up of cars. French Peugeot maker PSA Group joined in with the #nocarbabes hashtag attached- "PSA Group won’t convey a degrading image of anyone, neither of women or men." WHAT?!?

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Big automakers including Toyota and Nissan Motor Co. have also said they will cut back on the models in Geneva, marking a potential change for an industry that has long pandered to male customers by using attractive women to sell cars. "Times have changed,” Sara Jenkins, a Switzerland-based spokeswoman for Nissan which stopped hiring fashion models for shows last year, has said “It makes more sense to use product specialists because we’re selling cars." Some carmakers such as Lexus, fearing a backlash, said it’s dropping models altogether at the Swiss event, while Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is said to have canceled contracts with several female models over concern about being criticized. The maker of the Maserati, Jeep and Alfa Romeos will instead feature men as well as women in less exposing garb than in previous years. This is in sharp contrast with 2017, when Alfa Romeo’s display had women in little black dresses hovering around its Stelvio crossover.

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Why this drastic change in what been conventional auto show marketing strategy for decades? "The growing backlash has also prompted several European sports events to ditch hostesses working on the sidelines of male-dominated competitions." Even Pirelli & C. Spa, the Italian tire-maker famed for its sexy calendars, has modified its approach. Its 2018 stand will have models in black pant suits during press days, rather than the skimpy dresses of 2016, their spokeswoman said. It is nice that this time SOME of these women will get to keep heir jobs after training how to "cover themselves", but you see the irony it this "helping the females not being exploited"?