Booth Babes

Long a trade show tradition, E3, the big video game trade show is restricting Booth Babes. Booth Babes are the (typically) scantily clad women that vendors use to draw people into their booths. While the electronics industry seems to make limited use of Booth Babes, apparently the car industry and other fields use this approach more extensively. At the next E3, however, Booth Babes will have to move from being scantily clad to being a little bit less scantily clad. The restrictions don't seem like a big change, but they are there nonetheless.

It seems there is pressure to reduce the Booth Babe presence at the E3 because of concerns about sex and violence in video games being aimed at children. Of course, children (at least physical children) don't attend these shows so I'm not sure what the restrictions accomplish.

What always amazes me about trade shows, however, are the huge numbers of guys who line up to get their picture taken with the Booth Babes, or who try to see who can get the most pictures of themselves with various Booth Babes. A simple google on "Booth Babes" pulls up all sort of photo albums like this. I just don't get it.

For the occasional celebrity, I can understand it, based on our cult of celebrity worship. Most of the Booth Babes nice people, but are not well-known actresses, models, or singers. One day they may be, but not today.

I mean, I appreciate the aesthetics as of the Booth Babes as much as the next guy, but do the picture groupies think their friends are going to be impressed? It's not like the guys in line actually caught her attention. The picture basically says, "Hey, here's me standing next to a woman who was getting paid to stand next to guys like me." With lines the way they are, it seems like an awfully long time to stand and wait for such a small perk.