Promotional model
They serve to make a product or service more appealing, and can provide information to journalists and consumers at trade shows and convention events.
While each model may not be directly employed by the company they represent, they can be trained to answer questions and provide customer feedback regarding products, services, and brand appeal.
Race queens who operate in prestigious events and with a large fanbase can also be found at auto shows purely to draw crowds where they are nearly as important an attraction as the cars or electronics products that they are promoting.
[12] The models are typically asked to pose for photographs with convention goers, but inappropriate attendee conduct sometimes occurs, such as in case of Electronic Arts' 2009 "Sin to Win" campaign to promote Dante's Inferno.
[13][14] Since the late 1990s and increasingly so,[15] the practice of employing them has been, controversially,[5][16] strongly criticized by some journalists and segments of video game industry and consumer electronics communities.
Critics of "booth babes" declared it a sexist problem, describing the practice as "outdated", sexually objectifying and demeaning, as well as insulting to and alienating other women, in particular those in the information technology industry.
[17] In turn, some others argue that the models and companies are being unfairly targeted, accusing the critics of finger-pointing sensationalism, displaying "extreme" political correctness, being prudish and pro-censorship, and spreading a Puritan-like moral panic.
[10] GameSpot's Greg Kasavin commented that, with this attempt, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) was "trying to put a definition to what constitutes scantily clad and what's borderline offensive" as it was "under a lot of pressure these days to clean up the image of games and to at least demonstrate that the video game industry is responsible in regulating itself" in the aftermath of Hot Coffee mod controversy.
[19] China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference (ChinaJoy) introduced and strictly enforced a dress code in 2012,[28] saying they did not want "to send the wrong message" to their adolescent primary audience,[29] and San Diego Comic-Con banned the SuicideGirls erotic models from having a booth in 2010.
[30] Video game convention Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) adopted a dress codes for both male and female models[31] in what they call a "no booth babes" policy guideline, where "booth babes are defined as staff of ANY gender used by exhibitors to promote their products at PAX by using overtly sexual or suggestive methods.
"[32] Eurogamer Expo did not allow them completely in 2012, saying they wanted to make a more "friendly" show and all visitors "to feel comfortable," with a formal guideline saying "Booth babes are Not OK."[33] The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), including its president and CEO Gary J. Shapiro[34] and senior vice-president Karen Chupka,[6] initially defended the use of female models who were deemed not dressed enough by critics but discouraged the practice in 2014 after a Change.org petition started by a Forbes technology journalist Connie Guglielmo demanded a ban on them and reached 250 signatures.
[10] The campaigners' proposal to "ban booth babes" was rejected as the CEA refused to "create and impose arbitrary or unenforceable rules, or worse, inch our event towards a Talibanesque ban on exposure of skin,"[10] but the new Consumer Electronics Show (CES) exhibitor guidelines stated, "recent news articles show that ‘booth babes’ can reflect poorly on your exhibit, so we ask that you give this thoughtful consideration, to avoid alienating or offending various audience segments.
[36] The previous practice of having barely-clothed booth staffers was seen as creating a culture in which women were seen as "eye-candy or as decorative objects or hypersexualized figures".
