Photo: S. Baldauf
When the 2018 Geneva Motor Show opens its doors next week, all visitors will be able to see will be cars, and professionals presenting cars.
Hit by fear of unwanted trouble following the wave of sexual harassment accusations of the past year, several automakers have decided not to adorn their vehicles with what they called up until now “booth babes.”
According to a report by Fortune, automakers like SsangYong, Nissan, Lexus, Fiat, Peugeot, and Renault, have already canceled the appearance of the girls intended to draw attention to their cars. Stands would not be empty, as models would still be used, but this time they would include men as well, and all will show less flesh.
SsangYong, for instance, is said to use both male and female models dressed in sportswear. The same goes for Fiat, while the PSA booth will only feature models for “informative purposes.” Lexus will not use any man or woman to promote its cars.
Such decisions, although not imposed by the organizers of the event, have been taken as a precaution by carmakers in an attempt to avoid unnecessary problems.
There is, however, a touch of hypocrisy in all of this. All, and by that we mean 100 percent, of the carmakers attending car shows have used booth girls up until now. All of a sudden, groups like PSA and Nissan have grown a conscience.
A spokeswoman for Nissan told Fortune that it “makes more sense to use product specialists because we’re selling cars.” It’s surprising how they just realized that.
PSA, on the other hand, inadvertently admits having behaved improperly all those past years, saying in an email to the same source that “PSA Group won’t convey a degrading image of anyone, neither of women or men.”
The email is said to have been sent by spokesman Pierre-Oliver Salmon, who adorned it with a little hashtag containing at least one degrading term: #nocarbabes.
Hit by fear of unwanted trouble following the wave of sexual harassment accusations of the past year, several automakers have decided not to adorn their vehicles with what they called up until now “booth babes.”
According to a report by Fortune, automakers like SsangYong, Nissan, Lexus, Fiat, Peugeot, and Renault, have already canceled the appearance of the girls intended to draw attention to their cars. Stands would not be empty, as models would still be used, but this time they would include men as well, and all will show less flesh.
SsangYong, for instance, is said to use both male and female models dressed in sportswear. The same goes for Fiat, while the PSA booth will only feature models for “informative purposes.” Lexus will not use any man or woman to promote its cars.
Such decisions, although not imposed by the organizers of the event, have been taken as a precaution by carmakers in an attempt to avoid unnecessary problems.
There is, however, a touch of hypocrisy in all of this. All, and by that we mean 100 percent, of the carmakers attending car shows have used booth girls up until now. All of a sudden, groups like PSA and Nissan have grown a conscience.
A spokeswoman for Nissan told Fortune that it “makes more sense to use product specialists because we’re selling cars.” It’s surprising how they just realized that.
PSA, on the other hand, inadvertently admits having behaved improperly all those past years, saying in an email to the same source that “PSA Group won’t convey a degrading image of anyone, neither of women or men.”
The email is said to have been sent by spokesman Pierre-Oliver Salmon, who adorned it with a little hashtag containing at least one degrading term: #nocarbabes.
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