‘Booth Babes’ Banished as Carmakers Opt for Less Flesh in Geneva
“Times have changed,” said Sara Jenkins, a Switzerland-based spokeswoman
for Nissan, which stopped hiring fashion models for shows last year.
“It makes more sense to use product specialists because we’re selling
cars.”
In the auto industry, the changing customer base is also feeding the
trend. The number of women owning cars in the U.K. jumped 66 percent in
the decade through 2016, official figures show, almost triple the rise
in for men. In Germany, Europe’s biggest car market, women buy about a
third of all new vehicles and in France 37 percent.
Eliminating
women as display props isn’t new for some carmakers like Peugeot maker
PSA Group. “Visitors to the Geneva auto show will be welcomed on the PSA
booth by male and female hosts whose mission will be to inform them,”
spokesman Pierre-Oliver Salmon said in an email with a #nocarbabes
hashtag attached. “PSA Group won’t convey a degrading image of anyone,
neither of women or men.”
(Bloomberg.com)
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