CEA on ‘Booth Babes’: The Name Is the Problem

Following widespread criticism of the use of models to market products at the International CES, a CEA exec tells Mashable that the media is to blame — for repeating the commonly-used term "booth babes."

According to Karen Chupka, senior vice president of the Consumer Electronics Association, the industry giant has no plans to remove models from CES.

"The story has been overly sensationalized," Chupka says. "A lot of people are hired to come in and support exhibitors, since the booth is only one-third of the cost of attending the event.

"I can't understand. This is the year 2013, and I thought women had come farther than this.

I'm really appalled that anybody prints the word 'babe' and thinks that's okay."

I'm really appalled that anybody prints the word 'babe' and thinks that's okay."

Using temporary employees is a key way for companies to cut costs, Chupka adds. CEA recommends temporary staffing agency Judy Venn & Associates to out-of-town presenters, which describes its services as "trade show staffing, convention models, trade show hostesses."

CEA CEO Gary Shapiro admitted to the BBC last year that "people naturally want to go toward what they consider pretty," highlighting the overarching motivation to employ models at trade shows. Shapiro also called the BBC's story on booth babes "cute, but frankly irrelevant."

Chupka, on the other hand, understood why scantily-dressed models can touch a nerve for some trade show attendees.

"I can understand why people have different feelings about what's comfortable to them," Chupka says. "I walked in and saw a man in a completely tight body suit and thought, 'Hmm that's a little interesting.' Women walk around in yoga pants. Why? Because they're comfortable."

Yoga pants, however, are a far cry from the body paint and thongs captured in the photo above by Mashable reporter Emily Price. The women at the booth were painted, put on display and described as "fembots." Attendees were encouraged to Instagram and share photos using the hashtag #getmore.

Here's what Chupka had to say about that booth: "They were covered in paint. It's seen a lot at the European shows."

The CEA claims to distributes a disclaimer to attendees, encouraging caution. "The rules in the PR manuals that go out to the companies planning the event are that they should be properly attired according to decency laws," Chupka says.

"We remind them that the audience is diverse, and they should take into consideration how they display their products."

Mashable requested a copy of the clause in the PR manual dictating attire. The CEA directed us to the Exhibitor Manual, though after thorough searching (and further questioning the CEA), we were unable to locate the regulations Chupka mentioned.

Are 'Booth Babes' Keeping Women Out of Tech?

Increasing the number of women in science and technology jobs is an ongoing struggle in 2013. The presence of scantily-dressed, overly-sexualized female figures at industry events could, arguably, prevent women from feeling comfortable in that environment.

According to a U.S. Deptartment of Commerce report, "Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation," women hold about half of jobs in the U.S., but less than a quarter of STEM jobs. Just 14% of women are engineers and less than 10% of venture-backed companies were co-founded by women.

As the BBC notes, that's the reason why China has made the use of models at trade shows illegal.

But Chupka demurs. "It's not our policy, because each company should get to choose how they want to present itself," she says. "Our show represents a wide variety of industry segments. For us to say you must fit within a role would be like saying you have to dress like a pilgrim."

To its credit, the CEA itself runs contrary to the industry trend. The association employs 87 women out of a total staff of 139. Of the 40 members of senior staff, 22 are women.

Photo by Emily Price, Mashable