Autoblog

Belgian official tells Brussels Motor Show to nix racy spokesmodels [w/poll]

Michael Harley — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:57:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

Visitors to the upcoming Brussels Motor Show - which starts January 11, and is expected to draw some 350,000 visitors - will have to focus all of their attention on the vehicles this year, as event organizers have asked the automakers to keep the eye-candy "appropriately dressed" on the show's floor and exhibits.

Apparently, there were reports of lewd behavior (by male visitors, not the models) at last year's event. This prompted Joelle Milquet, Belgium's equal opportunities minister, to fire off a letter to Belgian car federation Febiac, the company behind the event. "A motor show is a place where you go with your family, we have to question the stereotypes we are passing on to children and young adults," Milquet wrote.

It seems that the spokesmodel's attire is coming under attack quite a bit these days. As you may recall, the Belgian minister's actions come on the heels of Chinese authorities chastising the Beijing Motor Show over its scantily clad models at its most recent event. Does this mean SEMA will eventually become a family-friendly event too?

What do you think - Should automakers stop bringing so-called booth professionals to auto shows?

View Poll

Belgian official tells Brussels Motor Show to nix racy spokesmodels [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China chastizes Beijing Motor Show over scantily clad models

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: China, Etc., Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Beijing Motor Show, Design/Style

Our post on China's "Tiger mom" phenomenon was illustrated with that above picture; it's the Jeep Wrangler Dragon Design Concept at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show, accompanied by a booth professional. The model - her, not the Jeep - made a fair few friends in the Autoblog Comments section, but it turns out she and her kind attracted the ire of the Chinese authorities.

The Capital Ethics Development Office gave the Beijing show organizers a caning because the "scantily clad" models had "a negative social impact," and the show was warned not to let "such vulgar publicity" occur again. There's a lot of room between that leather bustier and a burqa, however, so all's not lost for next year's show in Shanghai.

Scroll down to watch the Bloomberg video on the matter.

Continue reading China chastizes Beijing Motor Show over scantily clad models

China chastizes Beijing Motor Show over scantily clad models originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Long Beach Grand Prix 2010: Reflecting on America's Monaco

Frank Filipponio — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:27:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc.

2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Grid Girls - Click above for high-res image gallery

The great thing about a weekend of racing action in Long Beach is that there is so much to see and do besides the already thrilling track action and automotive displays. Vendor alleys, 'extreme sports' demonstrations, free concerts, '50s-style Mexican wrestling with a little extra vavoom thrown in...they all add to the payout on your already value-packed ticket purchase. That last one, though, is something new for the GPLB, via something old.

Dubbed Lucha VaVoom, it's a fairly new show that recalls the burlesque shows and masked wrestling matches of the '50s and '60s, but adds a few modern twists, along with a bunch of comedy and some daredevil antics to keep everyone happy and alert. Why do we bring this up when we're supposed to be covering an auto race? Because there's always more to the scene than just the racecars. Being at an event like the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is an experience. Anyone can watch a race on their LCD screen, but actually being at the track, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling the cars is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

A race event can be like having the circus in town. In fact, a whole little city sprouts up for these types of events, with restaurants, hair salons, recruiting centers, auto dealers, chapels, hospitals and entertainment spots galore. Participating in a race weekend is something all auto enthusiasts should do at least once in their lives, if not once a year or more. Long Beach in particular is such a great event because of its proximity to Hollywood, the Pacific Ocean and downtown Long Beach. And if you should ever think that attending a race is just a guy thing, know that there are plenty of families there as well, and plenty of ladies too, giving us all hope that the future of the hobby is in good hands.

This past weekend we were so pleased to find so many young women, in particular, at the track, that we couldn't help but take some pictures of all their smiling faces to prove our point. Take a look at the gallery below and you'll understand why we love Long Beach, and why it's been referred to as America's Monaco.

Gallery: 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Grid Girls

Long Beach Grand Prix 2010: Reflecting on America's Monaco originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chicago 2010: Women of the Windy City

Frank Filipponio — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:59:00 EST

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, LA Auto Show, Etc.

Spokesmodels of the Chicago Auto Show - Click above for high-res image gallery

This year's 2010 Chicago Auto Show is just about over, at least for us media types, and while a couple of significant vehicles were unveiled here, it's basically a repeat of Detroit - the industry has definitely scaled back. Although Chicago hasn't always been one of the pre-eminent events on the calendar, we usually get a lot out of our trip to the Windy City, and while that's generally new car debuts, there's plenty else to occupy our time here.

Thankfully one area where automakers seemingly didn't skimp again is booth professionals. Lots of models are positioned by the vehicles, quick with a smile or an answer to any question we had. As the auto show season marches along, the gals just seem to get prettier and friendlier at every event.

And as we pointed out in our booth babe post from Detroit, we're not being sexist, but rather consumers of a valuable service according to Sirens of Chrome, an entire book celebrating the culture of car models and their history on the auto show circuit. Check out the gallery below to keep the economy going.

Gallery: Women of the Windy City at Chicago Auto Show

Chicago 2010: Women of the Windy City originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA 2009: Booth Professionals are anything but stock

Frank Filipponio — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: SEMA Show, Etc.

Lisa Angeline, aka Catwoman - Click above for high-res image gallery

This year's SEMA show in Las Vegas didn't have quite the gravitas of years past, as the state of the economy and the automotive industry in particular seemed to be a wet blanket over the whole proceedings. Thank goodness there were plenty of friendly faces throughout the halls to keep our spirits up.

One smiling face especially caught our eye, although we weren't sure why. The eyes and smile were familiar but we couldn't quite put our finger on where we had seen them before. And then it hit us, it was our beloved Catwoman (a.k.a. Lisa Angeline) from last year's BatSmart gallery! We hardly recognized her stripped of her catsuit. We saw her in the Vertical Doors booth. We know this with great certainty because the name of the company was written in very strategic locations - like on the banner above her head and (*ahem*) elsewhere. Smart folks behind that BatSmart. But to be honest, we weren't really paying too much attention to the cars there, so perhaps this strategy is flawed.

This happened quite a bit during the week. We'd go down to shoot a certain car, and an hour later, we'd be scratching our heads wondering what we had come down for in the first place. Take a look at the gallery and you'll probably agree - down year or no, the distractions were quite spectacular.

Gallery: SEMA 2009: Booth Professionals

SEMA 2009: Booth Professionals are anything but stock originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit 2009: Motor City guys and dolls....but mostly dolls

Frank Filipponio — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:58:00 EST

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Etc.

Click above for a gallery of high-res pics of some of the faces from Detroit '09

There are lots of people here in Detroit for the NAIAS, and there are lots of moments that have little to do with the cars themselves. So we figured we'd do a roundup gallery to show you some of the personal moments from this year's Detroit Auto Show. Some of the faces you'll undoubtedly recognize, while others you'll probably hope to get to know better. Check out the gallery and you'll see sports announcers, execs, kids, even a model or two. As always, we appreciate the tireless work of the booth professionals who have to stand in heels all day and pretend to be happy to see another camera shoved in their faces. Many have mentioned that they are fans of Autoblog, but we suspect they say that to everyone. Still, we know some will be viewing this post so please be civil and keep your comments clean.

Gallery: Detroit 2009: Detroit people gallery

Detroit 2009: Motor City guys and dolls....but mostly dolls originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tokyo Motor Show: Models of a different sort

Siddharth Raja — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:14:00 EST

Filed under: Japan, Tokyo Motor Show

Click above picture to view complete gallery

After all the excitement of official reveals had passed and car company execs had gone back to their hotels, the lovely models of the Tokyo Motor Show were always around to brighten up a background. This year's standouts from last week's show were the girls gracing the Ferrari and Maserati stands, but some of the models from the tire companies were also easier on the eyes than most. Check out the extensive photo gallery below to see all of the good looking girls from the show.

Gallery: Ladies of 2007 Tokyo Motor Show

Tokyo Motor Show: Models of a different sort originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gallery: VIP Auto Fashion Show babes

Frank Filipponio — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:07:00 EST

Filed under: Misc. Auto Shows

Maybe more so than at any other show besides SEMA, the girls are just as important as the cars at the Hot Import Nights shows. And when you're talking about the VIP version of HIN, the quality should be kicked up a notch, and we weren't disappointed. The lovely ladies of L.A. included professional models, car chicks, race drivers, employees who just felt like strutting their stuff while discussing their products, even a few Playboy bunnies. Not all of them were locals, some we talked to were from the East Coast, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, and Washington. The individual vendor booths had some of their own crew while the event itself had its fashion show models and the Miss HIN regional contestants competing for the Queen of the Scene title, plus there were plenty of dolled up girlfriends and wives draping themselves across their SO's vehicles. It was quite a gathering. As with the vehicles we showed you a few days ago, variety is the spice of life and beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, so rather than subject these gals to your personal taste expressions, we are leaving comments off for this gallery. Enjoy the pics. And btw, that's Supra drag racer Anna, aka Bikini Racer above.

Continue reading Gallery: VIP Auto Fashion Show babes

Gallery: VIP Auto Fashion Show babes originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SEMA Gallery: Booth Babe Bonanza

Frank Filipponio — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:42:00 EST

Filed under: SEMA Show, Etc.

The team is back from Las Vegas, having finished our marathon coverage of SEMA. To say that place is huge would be an understatement. The amount of hours it takes to walk that show is unbelievable. With 1,000,000 square feet of exhibit space and 2,000 vehicles displayed, the four of us had a hard time getting it all covered. Before you pull out the violins for us, however, know that SEMA is a lot of fun, as you might imagine. The outrageous cars and product ideas had a way of keeping us smiling and laughing throughout the run of the show.

And at many of the booths, there were company spokesmodels who were charming and friendly and quite easy on the eyes in many cases. And when you're wearing a media badge and carrying a camera, they practically jump into position to pose for you, all in the interest of showing off their products and services to their best advantage. Who were we to say no? As with the Paris Motor Show, the models were pretty much everywhere. But this wasn't Paris, this was Vegas, and you know, they don't call it Sin City for nothing. We gathered a small gallery of some of these "booth babes" to give you a taste of what SEMA offers. We hope you enjoy the pics at least as much as the ladies enjoyed being there and posing. Follow the jump for about 20 more lovely lady pics. All wallpaper sized when clicked.

Continue reading SEMA Gallery: Booth Babe Bonanza

SEMA Gallery: Booth Babe Bonanza originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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