What are you REALLY Buying?

So I saw a link on CNN.com today about the annual CES conference in Las Vegas.  It's basically where cool new electronic gadgets are debuted, and you can get an idea of what developments in technology are coming down the pike, such as 3D TV without the need for glasses and a TV that's only 4mm thick.  Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard. 

So, after reading about some of these developments, I see another link - a photo gallery of some of these new gizmos.  So I click on it, and the 3rd picture is this:

 

 

Really?  This is who is going to sell me a waterproof phone?  This is how we need to sell useful, relevant, cutting edge technologies?  As a consumer, does your choice really come down to who has the best looking sales reps?  Anyone under the age of 22, stop nodding.  We know you're driven by hormones.  You're excused, because you don't have any money anyways.  I'll be honest, it took me a good long while to figure out that the girl in that picture was advertising a waterproof phone, mostly because I wasn't looking at the phone.  For me, the model takes away from the product.  She pulled my attention away from the product, not drew me to it. But my point is, are we really at a point as a society where we're willing to throw our money at an inferior product because the person selling it has on a tight shirt? 

 

Sadly, the answer is yes.  If this kind of marketing didn't work, we wouldn't see it over and over.  Hooters is essentially the middle school equivalent of a strip club.  I don't think I'd ever go there over a Buffalo Wild Wings.  Yes, I have been to a Hooters, but not since I got out of college (see my comment about 22 year-olds above).  Seems like every one's desperate for an attractive person to show them attention, even if that attention is blatantly phony. 

 

I'm not the kind of person to find every little thing offensive or demeaning.  I don't think the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is in any way doing a disservice to women.  It's good for the swimsuit industry, good for the magazine, and good for the models.  It's not taking money and/or attention away from something else.  This use of hired hotties to sell phones is not good though.  It marginalizes women who actually do work in the tech industry.  Listen to some of the women in this BBC video - they've carved out careers in this field, then at the Super Bowl of their industry, they're essentially put on the sidelines so a more attractive person can close the deal?  That's crap.  I also got a kick out of the model in that video who says that the models at CES "wear business attire" and are "pretty much covered up." 

 

Is this offensive to you?  If you were in the market for a waterproof phone, would this girl convince you to buy that phone?  If I'm being honest, I'd probably listen to her talk about the phone, ask some questions I don't really care about the answer to, then walk on.  No way I let her talk me into buying something though.  Even if I needed it, I'd probably wait and then buy it online later.   I'd hate to think I was encouraging this type of activity.