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E3

Company Takes Stand Against Booth Babes 110

Posted by Zonk from the who-would-answer-a-casting-call-for-ugly-people? dept.
Swank1 writes "At this year's E3 (May 17-20) Agetec will launch its Anti Booth Babe campaign. Believing that booth babes take attention away from the games, Agetec wants to change the focus back to where it should be. They plan on doing this not by refusing to have booth babes, but instead by hiring ten unattractive women to work their booth. Agetec, a producer of video games and hardware for console systems, has launched AntiBoothBabes.com to get their idea going. Right now the site is just a splash page and a sign-up form for a free T-shirt, but the real fun will come at the Expo. In Los Angeles, during the convention, Agetec's anti-babes will be handing out 'Granny Panties' with Agetec's logo on it. An article discribes the initiative at XYZ Computing."
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Company Takes Stand Against Booth Babes More

Company Takes Stand Against Booth Babes

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  • Gosh... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by brilinux ( 255400 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @12:54AM (#12527164) Journal
    I feel sorry for the people who have do the hiring, and those who will be hired to do it. First, having to decide if someone is really that ugly, and, being told that you are ugly enough to do it. People these days are so superficial...

    • Re:Gosh... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by nb caffeine ( 448698 )
      Agreed on that point. There are many things wrong with the "Booth babe" culture surrounding e3: treating women as objects, drawing attention away from games (maybe on purpose), as well as the general downward spiral the games industry (even more so on consoles) is currently undertaking. I dunno, maybe its time a small house came out with a less powerful system that had nothing but GREAT games on it, and gaming could be geeky again.
      Br sigh, i guess ill be getting more game information from mtv than current g

      • Re:Gosh... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Guspaz ( 556486 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @03:08AM (#12527675)
        One could argue that this Agetec is doing the exact same thing: treating women as objects, and drawing attention away from games. If they want to protest boothbabes, this is not the way to do it.

        Let's not forget that this is very likely a marketing ploy. Just think, a company that normally might not get much if any coverage or press, suddenly is the centre of attention due to their, and let's call this what it is, their marketing campaign.

        Oh, let's not forget that they're being particularly demeaning to women by hiring them on the sole basis of how ugly they are. What a wonderful boost of self-confidence for these women.

        "Congradulations! You are one of the ten ugliest people out of the thousands that applied!"
        • Guspaz,

          > Oh, let's not forget that they're being
          > particularly demeaning to women by hiring
          > them on the sole basis of how ugly they are.

          Really? Did you make that up, or did you read it somewhere?

          I read the article linked in the news item, and also went to the antiboothbabe site - no mention of what you claim.

          I suggest that you are being demeaning to our intelligence by making unfounded assumptions.

          RJK.
          • It was what was stated in the news post, which considering that the site was slashdotted at the time, was the only source of info.

            It would appear Slashdot made a factual error. Take it out on them, not me.

    • Re:Gosh... (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by Kaenneth ( 82978 )
      I was walking past a place that used to be a software store, and peered in the windows, sadly, the software store was gone, however, a guy popped out of what the store had become...

      a modeling/acting school.

      He was interested in my friend (who looks very young for his age), suggesting roles as bullys and etc. (my friend used to headbutt boulders and such, and currently resides in a mental institution.)

      and don't forget 'Bitter Beer Face'.


    • It amazes me how bad technical people are at marketing. They apparently didn't see the possibility that their idea could be bad for the company.
      • ..bad? fucking everyone will talk about them. half of which will check out what products they're actually offering...

        if they had just some bimbos like everyone else.. no fuckign anybody would know of them - I didn't know their brand before this anyways, and now I DO. so.. not so bad marketing.


        • I think you didn't read the grandparent comment: "I feel sorry for the people who have do the hiring, and those who will be hired to do it. First, having to decide if someone is really that ugly, and, being told that you are ugly enough to do it."

          Maybe it will work as you say. But that was not the point of my comment. The point was that I can think of many directions the company's idea can take that will be bad for the company.

          For example, maybe people will walk by the booth to see the company's idea
    • Yeah, people are extremely superficial, but ugly people know they're ugly just like fat people know they're fat. It's not like some hiring manager is going to say "Great, you're ugly/fat enough!" and you're going to be shocked for the first time in your life.

      Personally, I couldn't care less about booth babes. If I want to see hot chicks, I can go to a strip club (well, I wouldn't - but I could). Or I could just surf the internet. Trust me, an uninteractive photo of a hot chick is just as interesting, engag
    • brilinux,

      > First, having to decide if someone is really
      > that ugly [snip]
      > People these days are so superficial...

      Superficial? The article quoted made no mention of hiring ugly women. Furthermore, the antiboothbabe site indicates that it will be hairy men with blonde wigs who will make up the complement of 'antiboothbabes'.

      You barely looked past the surface of the news item (apparently never even investigating the links provided) before sharing your 'insightful' comments.

      I suggest that it is yo

  • Degrading. (Score:3, Funny)

    by WhatAmIDoingHere ( 742870 ) * <sexwithanimals@gmail.com> on Saturday May 14, 2005 @12:58AM (#12527175) Homepage
    This is just as degrading to women as Booth Babes. At least the Booth Babes can go back to their jobs stripping or doing BangBros videos when the expo is over. These "ugly" women get hired for being "ugly" and doesn't that just boost the old self esteem?

    This is crap. And by saying things like this, I can hopefully score some points with these "ugly" ladies. I'm desperate. And lonely. Somebody call me? Please?

  • Still women... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:02AM (#12527192)

    I notice how it's still women that they are hiring. If they really wanted to make a statement, they'd have a mixture of men and women.

    But I suspect this is just a "look at us, we're controversial!" publicity stunt. And hey, they got a Slashdot story, so it's working.

    • If they really wanted to make a statement, they'd have a mixture of men and women.
      The statement being, "Gay guys enjoy this game too!"
    • You think the dude telling you about the details of the game is an actual developer?

      They already hire men. Thay are called marketing droids. They have nice hair and white teeth and they go to the gym a few times a week.
    • If they had men in thongs, the reaction would be much stronger, considering the amount of homophobia I encounter on xbox live...

      If anything, this might boost the self-esteem of said "ugly chicks", considering that a lot of geeks are befuddled when _any_ female talks to them.

  • Being paid the highest complement (Score:4, Funny)

    by Frodo Crockett ( 861942 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:03AM (#12527199)
    They plan on doing this not by refusing to have booth babes, but instead by hiring ten unattractive woman to work their booth.

    And I'm sure those ten women were flattered when they said, "We want to hire you because you're ugly."

  • One gimmick for another? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by aztektum ( 170569 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:05AM (#12527207)
    We want to put the attention on the games so we created this attention grabbing gimmick to do so.

    Who cares if, for a few trade shows, male (and possibly some female gamers I guess) oggle boobies?

  • Wtf? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Stonewolf57 ( 833593 )
    That's not only an insult, it's also discrimination. How about just hiring people who are qualified for the job?

    • Re:Wtf? (Score:1)

      by dk4 ( 522573 )
      And the qualifications for Booth Babe are?
      • It helps if they have personality behind that glittering image. I've talked to a number of booth babes trying to pitch their product, and no matter how hot they were the informed ones who knew how to explain what their product was are the ones who stick out in my memory. That's because I probably ended up using their product. The bad ones, while pretty, just smile and hand you a flyer you don't want and will probably never read.

    • That's not only an insult, it's also discrimination. How about just hiring people who are qualified for the job?

      Wouldn't that be discrimination?

  • Just another Marketing Ploy (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DavidD_CA ( 750156 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:21AM (#12527267) Homepage
    Employing booth babes is a classic marketing strategy used to draw attention to your booth.

    This news isn't about sticking up for women or not treating them as objects, it's just a twist on the strategy. They're in fact still treating women as objects to further their own advancement. How is this any better?

    Their claim of "putting the focus back on the games" is bullshit. If that were the case, they would have just not hired "ugly women" (their quote, not mine) and not made mention of their anti-booth-babes stance.

    All this is is a press stunt to get some extra attention apart from all the other vendors using booth babes.

    • Re:Just another Marketing Ploy (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      they would have just not hired "ugly women" (their quote, not mine)

      Actually, that's XYZ Computing's quote, not Agetec's quote. I can't find anything about what they're planning on Agetec's site.

      In fact, they look like a practically dead company if you look at their press releases on their site. Over the past YEAR they've released ONE press release.

      Trying Google News found this article. Not very helpful.

      My guess is that they aren't looking for "ugly" women, but in fact old women (based on the "granny

  • stupid (Score:5, Insightful)

    by truffle ( 37924 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:29AM (#12527300) Homepage
    This is stupid I can't believe that slashdot posted it, this attention grab is more insulting and hurtful to women than booth babes are.

    Just don't post dumb stories like this.
    • Better yet, boycott the company.

      That actually made me feel sick for a minute reading it too. Made me think of those makeover shows where they take "totally horrible woman" and make them over (because those women obviously had no redeeming qualities whatsoever... I mean *look* at them! ... (sarcasm was here.)... shivers... and to think I usually skoff a bit when people get upset about game characters being over-buxom. I mean sure its a poor image of women or whatever, but it sells the games and hey ... j

  • How about... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sparr0 ( 451780 ) <sparr0@gmail.com> on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:33AM (#12527317) Homepage Journal
    Booth "KnowSomethingAboutTheProduct"s?

    I mean it. What I would love to see at an expo is someone at the booth that I can talk to about the product at hand. Sure, its nice to have beautiful women standing around, but it isnt going to make me any more likely to buy the company's product.

    • When there are a few booth babes hanging out in a booth you slow down and look. In effort to make it appear that you are not ogling the babes you look at the literature and demos. Now you know something and have invested time, so you are more likely to buy.

      This might not apply to you personally, but it applies to most guys. That is all they care about.

  • I agree. They make girls look stupid (Score:3, Interesting)

    by fluor2 ( 242824 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:34AM (#12527320)
    When I first saw booth-babes, I thought it were some sort of sex-industry show. I think this would NEVER happened in Norway, and I was a little disappointed when I realized that it was for real.

    World, the time has come to stop using girls to attract attention!
    • My friend saw the video that this [aftenposten.no] article is talking about... umm, and I have to say that if there are young women in Norway that are wiling to do THAT, there's probably more than a few that wouldn't mind being a booth babe. Just dare them to and give them a test afterwards ;).
    • Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) booth babes work for drawing attention.

      I attend a +lot+ of geeky trade shows for the geospatial industry, and believe me, there's nothing geekier than a bunch of guys talking about photogrammetry and remote sensing while wearing their birkenstocks and socks. When one of the companies decides to bring in a booth babe or two, they are the talk of the show. We're kind of an ugly industry.

      At any rate, they work. Booth babes draw people into the

  • Kind of cruel... (Score:3, Funny)

    by fm6 ( 162816 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:34AM (#12527326) Homepage Journal
    ...considering that a "booth babe" is the closest most game geeks will ever come to having an actual date!

  • Won't someone think of the booth babes? (Score:5, Funny)

    by general_re ( 8883 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @01:41AM (#12527350) Homepage
    Imagine if this sort of thing catches on? There could be hordes of attractive women, suddenly unemployed, mostly unemployable, and in desperate need of help. Who will help the booth babes?

    Well, I will. I know it's a huge sacrifice, but dammit, someone's gotta step up to the plate here. If there are any former booth babes out there who need someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, or a bed to sleep in, I'm completely available.

    That is, I will be - as soon as my wife reads this post. :-/

  • better idea (Score:2, Interesting)

    by phloydphreak ( 691922 )
    Find 'booth babes'(tm) who actually know something about gaming! AMAZING! I have met a few (albiet not many) women who are avid gamers. Some are attractive. They exist, so why not spend a little more money on finding and hiring those who know the product.

    If car shows didnt have reps who knew their shit, the company they worked for would be pumled by angry consumers, consumers who refused to purchase that product due to poor representation. Same should be done here.

  • basic flaw (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cahiha ( 873942 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @03:07AM (#12527668)
    There is a basic flaw in their reasoning, which is to assume that everybody likes the "booth babe" type. Here's a hint: some guys like mature women, some guys like full women. Some guys even like guys, from androgynous boyish looks to furry bears. And some of the audience is women, straight women even, who would be physically more attracted by any male booth staff (although might still generally prefer chatting with female booth staff).

    Hire people for personality, not looks, and you'll do well. And most people with the right personality for customer contacts will also know how to dress appropriately for the event and their body type. Of course, if you force everybody into some ridiculous booth outfit (skin tight pink T-shirts, etc.), then many people will look bad.
  • Hiring "unattractive" women doesn't necessarily mean anything. I mean, come on. Here's an idea. Hire actual geeks. Both men and women. A woman who can talk to me about the evolution of role-playing games is ten times more attractive to me than some test tube blonde with implants whose gaming knowledge extends to Ms. Pacman. Hell, she might even make me buy want to buy their game. Having a passionate developer manning (personing?) the booth would be even better.

    Instead of beign an "anti" movement, they ought to be "for" something that is lacked by placing an emphasis on appearance. Otherwise, it's just a publicity stunt...like booth babes.

  • Wow... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Miss_Saturnine ( 821071 )
    ...so they couldn't just hire women, could they? They have to divide us up into "dumb but hot" or "smart but ugly".

    This is why I'll always have negative opinions about the gaming industry - it makes me feel completely worthless.

    • Aww, but you got your +4, Insightful, so now you must feel worthy again.

      Give me a break. For one thing, I don't see "dumb" or "smart" anywhere in the story, that's your own prejudice coming out. And why did you say they should hire women, not people? In fact, the job of the "booth babe" could probably be eliminated completely, if not the entire Expo. The whole thing is just a marketing scheme. Don't take it so seriously.

      In case IHBT, good job, you win.

      • How do mod points constitute winning? I win when women stop being treated like pieces of meat by the gaming industry. And that won't be any time soon.

        I specified women, because the article was about women, not men. Show me an article about the way men are mistreated and used and ignored by the gaming industry...and oh. Wait. There aren't any, are there. Because it doesn't happen.

        • How do mod points constitute winning?

          Just a guess by your comments of feeling worthless. So why do you feel worthless, exactly?

          I win when women stop being treated like pieces of meat by the gaming industry.

          How does that make you win?

          I specified women, because the article was about women, not men. Show me an article about the way men are mistreated and used and ignored by the gaming industry...

          First you show me an article about the way women are mistreated and used and ignored by the gaming indus

        • Miss Saturnine,

          > I win when women stop being treated like pieces
          > of meat by the gaming industry.

          Are you talking about the portrayal of women in video games? The unrealistic proportions of Lara Croft? You can certainly make a case of it.

          But think about the portrayal of men. Seriously, think about it.

          It is, by now, common knowledge that the key to modern advertising is creating a feeling of deficit in the target audience, i.e. to make them feel bad about themselves so as to create a need for the pr
    • They have to divide us up into "dumb but hot" or "smart but ugly".

      Most of us can't get so much as a date with women who are "dumb but hot" OR "smart but ugly" (due to coming across as "weird and creepy").

      Women who are "hot AND smart" arn't considered by the community because they are clearly out of our league, which is perhaps why that category come up very often (except for those of us with an excessive amount of hubris, or for those with an excessive bank balance).

      I rather suspect that members of the
    • Miss Saturnine, The article states that 10 women will be hired for the booth itself on the basis of their interest in games. This means that the appearance is not an issue. The only credible case one could make against them is that they appear to favour women over men. RJK.

  • ABB Slogin (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Mitaphane ( 96828 ) on Saturday May 14, 2005 @06:10AM (#12528194) Homepage
    "Real Games. Real People?"

    So what's more offensive? Being paying to stand around to be gawked by geeks because of your better-than-average-good-looks or being told by a website your not a "real person."

    That said, I really don't see what the problem is. These women are getting paid to dress up in some costume, look hot, and maybe poss with people or pass out promotional material. They are there on their own volition. They aren't being any more exploited than a game designer is being exploited for his creativity. Modeling is just like any other job that requires a certain amount of inate ability. It just so happens that this ability is to look attractive. So to summarize, if these women are being exploited then so is everyone else that voluntarily goes into a career field that needs their abilities.
    • Well, if anyone is being disrepected, it's the customer, isn't it?

      Putting on my cynical business guy hat, this is reacting to a rather uncreative idea with a demeaning and stupid one. If I needed to do something to attract the attention of mostly male geeks, I'd hire young female geeks and gamers instead of professional models. Of course it would help if they were attactive, but that's true for rverybody in sales and marketing. What's more interesting, a mega babe you can gawk at or a cute girl you can

    • That said, I really don't see what the problem is.

      Well, according to the story, the problem is not that women are being exploited, but that "booth babes take attention away from the games". Having never been to an expo I'm not sure if I agree or not, but I can see the theory - people go around saying "wow, look at that booth babe" instead of "wow, look at those graphics".


  • 1. Fire your booth babes.
    2. Hire ugly people as replacements
    3. .....
    4. No Profit!!!

  • The game sucks. If they need to do a stupid marketing stunt like this, clearly the game is lacking. Plus, they aren't addressing the problem, they're simply puting a few booth babes out of work for the week.

  • Apologies to Chris (Score:2, Interesting)

    by rathehun ( 818491 )
    Emma, http://caoine.org/images/headshot.jpg [caoine.org] is, in my opinion, a very attractive woman and a great gamer.


    However, last time I heard, she was doing web-design, so she may not have the time to become the stereotype breaking - Hot but Game Guru Girl....


    R.

  • Pathetic. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bluephone ( 200451 ) <grey@nOspAm.burntelectrons.org> on Saturday May 14, 2005 @02:54PM (#12530643) Homepage Journal
    This is just pathetic. To make some completely sexist remarks, the boothbabes are eye candy to draw visitors to your booth to look at your content. They get attention and drive traffic from people who otherwise might not bother with your booth. And you know what? We do it with almost every product in almost every industry.

    Ford's commercial for the Mercury version of the 500 has a chick in a tight shirt, tight capri pants, and sexy little shoes jumping around the car talking about how great it is. And a little birdie told me she wasn't hired for her detailed knowledge of her automobile enthusiasm. Same with vacations and cruises, McDonald's salads, investment banks, cable news, clothing department stores, etc. Sex sells. And it's not just women. Men are used to sell romance novels, "romantic comedy" films (chick flicks), country music, etc.

    I think it's time we grew up and just recognized that sex is a part of our lives, a part we like, and stop trying to live like Puritans. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play Wolfenstein with the Elite Guard, read FHM, and stop by an auto show to pick up some flyers from the competent ladies at the Yugo booth.

  • For our booth, we are hiring 10 male strippers freshly shaven, and sprayed down with PAM. This will surely make people passing by look at our game!

  • Hmmmm! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by triso ( 67491 )
    With a tag line like, "Anti Booth Babes. real People, real Games." It is clear to us that the PR staff at reverbinc.com are either militant feminazis or homosexuals.
  • They are Booth Betties. If they don't just scan your badge, but actually regurgitate some marketing speech, particularly while standing within 10 feet of a flat screen and wearing a microphone, then they are Demo Dollies.

  • A better way to end the "pretty" bias is to do interviews for booth attendants with a blind between the interviewer and interviewee. Think The Dating Game here. Have all the interviews reviewed and pick the women based on their verbal charisma and knowledge.

    Some will be pretty, even so! Most will be ordinary, and some may be ugly, but at least you can say with a clear conscience that you hired the best ones for the job.

    I'm not really sure that this is the intent of booth attendees. Let's face it, the
  • We'll know they're serious if the president of the company puts his wife in the booth. That would be interesting.
  • If you read the article, it says they are hiring women to staff their booth for their skills and interest rather than their appearance.

    It does NOT say they are hiring women specifically because they are unattractive. Whether or not they are attractive just isn't the issue.

    I think many, many commenters missed that part, including the original editor who posted the story.

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