Filed under: Trends
Auto show getting sexier?
While SEMA show
organizers desperately try to do everything they can to clean up the acts of the some of the exhibitors when
it comes to scantily-clad "product specialists," the North American Internaional Auto Show is just getting
started. Models in evening gowns tower over Ferarris, specialists in leathery cocktail dresses spice up the Lamborghini
exhibit, and even Saleen's exhibit sports women in miniskirts and bare abdomens. Even Chrysler opted to flaunt some sex
appeal when it hosted a press conference featuring primetime beauty Eva Longoria.
What's with the chicks and cars, anyway? One would think that with all the emphasis on exciting design, one would want to flaunt the car's beauty, not the model's beauty, right? But maybe that's just it -- image is everything, and the only thing better than beautiful cars is beautiful cars flanked by beautiful people. Now if they would just hire a male model or two, the other half could enjoy the trend.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
dotsara 1:13PM (1/13/2006)
Well, it's not entirely unlike some commercials, is it? Specifically, Jaguar's "gorgeous" campaign (which, now that I think about it...has disappeared? I hope?). Hot girl + cool car = buy this car so you, too can have hot girl!
Heh.
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What Gives 1:19PM (1/13/2006)
For the Ladies out there...what about the Male Product Specialists in Baby Blue Leisure Suits at the Volvo Display?
I hope those guys are well paid.
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dan 1:23PM (1/13/2006)
truth, the cars are so bland they need all the help they can get to creat excitment,i.e.,SEX!
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Gil 1:27PM (1/13/2006)
You should visit the SIAB autoshow in Romania. There are more chicks than you can count at that show.
If you want to get an idea about what I mean just do a google image search for SIAB (just like that in capital letters). The pictures with chicks and cars will most likely be from the 2005 edition
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S1500 1:37PM (1/13/2006)
"Even Chrysler opted to flaunt some sex appeal when it hosted a press conference featuring primetime beauty Eva Longoria."
Funny, since in an episode of Desperate Housewives, Eva's character had to showcase a car at the mall to make ends meet. Life imitates art.
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Ben 1:41PM (1/13/2006)
It's like the chicken and the egg question, but applied here - "Which comes first, the hot car or the hot chick?" ;)
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XJ 1:43PM (1/13/2006)
"Hot girl + cool car = buy this car so you, too can have hot girl!"
I was about to say something like that. I thought everyone knew this.
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felonious.monk 1:48PM (1/13/2006)
" truth, the cars are so bland they need all the help they can get to creat excitment,i.e.,SEX!"
FALSE. Ultimate truth in advertising: sex sells. Plain and simple. Considering majority of attendees are men, it's pretty obvious why the models are women.
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ADE 1:52PM (1/13/2006)
The model after the jump is hot! I don't see anything wrong with a little eye candy. Most of these "specialist" are really knowledgeable about the product also.
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Lectoid 1:53PM (1/13/2006)
Yea, because I buy a car based on the level of hotness the women at a car show standing next to it.
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cowboy bob 1:59PM (1/13/2006)
Yea, What is with this chick thing anyway? Why can't we see an oiled bare-chested poolboy with an earing in his right ear and wearing leather motorcycle chaps with no pants? Get a hairdresser who moonlights at the local bar as a strip stud to advertize for the prettyboy cars. Ooohha big boy!!! This would be MUCH better!
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DT 2:00PM (1/13/2006)
this was one of the dumbest stories to come from the show (besides all the attention paid to Geely). And if any of the bloggers that were there were asked I doubt they'd have noticed the women much. none of them were wearing bikinis etc. I didn't see the saleen girls though. Everyone else was fully dressed and they were cocktail dresses or evening gowns. Not exactly revealing.
Just another way to make a story out of nothing. there were plenty of Men, models, spokespeople whatever all over the place too. they were in suits, had lots of hair product etc.
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felonious.monk 2:09PM (1/13/2006)
"Yea, because I buy a car based on the level of hotness the women at a car show standing next to it."
That isn't the point. The idea is to get you to noticed their booth so that you and many others would gravitate towards it and thus increase your exposure to their products. The best marketing are the ones that work without you even knowing it.
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Nighthawk 2:21PM (1/13/2006)
You've got a jump to the video game article with pictures of about five video games. For this, one thumbnail picture and one newspaper photo.
You've got it completely backwards.
I have no interest in looking at men playing video games. I would, however, enjoy a jump to a dozen or so photos of hotties!
Priorities, Man! Priorities!
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jef 2:22PM (1/13/2006)
so.. after all that reading.. where's proof? where are the pictures? i really don't believe you, you need to show some proof.
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Corey 2:38PM (1/13/2006)
Over at the LA Auto show at the Lambo area, they have three attractive women standing in between these already attractive cars, as if its making me going to sell my soul for one. So I asked one of the reps, whats the point of the women, he couldnt give me a good PC answer. The people around me giggled.
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YoungM 2:40PM (1/13/2006)
For real, if they can get smart, hot chicks in dresses to stand by cars - all the better imo. Now for that auto show in Romania, lol!
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Bob H. 3:37PM (1/13/2006)
Using attractive women to promote automobiles or auto racing is a long-standing tradition that needs no explanation, justification or analysis. Also, no one cares whether the models know the first thing about any of the cars. I evaluate the models based on the same criteria that I evaluate a car: beauty, performance and reliability! :)
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verdegrrl 3:55PM (1/13/2006)
Auto shows are usually attended by men and boys. Much like most women like going to mall and shopping for shoes. But I can't help but think that all that meaningless arm candy might just alienate a lot of women from attending as well.
I've worked auto shows as a presenter (in khakis and white shirt). It's already a hard enough job to be taken seriously as a female in the car industry as it is.
Being a female car nut, if I like a car, I'll go about acquiring it myself. Why should I have to put up with sharing it with some guy who's going to fight me for the keys? ;-P So all you guys who think a car will help land a chick, just remember that if she's so shallow that a car makes the difference, you are getting what you deserve.
All I know is that when I drive a Ferrari, it's the men and boys who notice the car, long before they even notice who is driving it. Most women barely give it a glance. What does that say? Maybe it's like the seldom acknowledged fact that women usually dress up to be noticed by other women. A pecking order thing.
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JAG 7:00PM (1/13/2006)
It is the perfect combination: with one you can get the most fun you ever had with your pants on and the other without.
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