Candace has an issue with booth babes, and she's called me out.

I know Rob is going to say that taking the boothbabes out of E3 takes the fun out of the conference - but is that what you really think? Really really? Do you really believe it’s justified to use a woman’s body to sell a game? Would you want your daughter working there?

The daughter card? Right out of the gate? Isn't that something like the thing about losing a thread by comparing the other party to Hitler? I'll go remind her not to stick candy in her butt.

Anyhow, let me say that I don't go to E3 for the booth babes. They're definitely part of the show and I don't try to pretend they're not there either. I don't think losing them would take the fun out of the conference, but when you take away a feature that's enjoyable then, yeah, that takes some fun away. I'm not going to appologize to anyone for being intrigued by attractive women - after all, isn't that why models are used in advertising? Because they attract attention?

I have a hard time believing that being into booth babes makes me fit in with some anonymous group of powerful men that are buying and selling bodies. This kind of reasoning implies that there's a club for all the guys, and being a guy gets you in. I'm not in the club. If they're out there then they're buying and selling me too: don't forget that a woman's body isn't the only thing that sells a game. The lives of some pretty put-upon developers go into that game as well. Capitalism is just oppression in exchange for dollars. These women get their hours on the floor then get a cheque for it. So do all the men and women behind the scenes who wheel and deal to get the game put together and in to the stores. At least the booth babes get a bit of fame on the web that they can talk about, if they're not too busy bemoaning their oppression. They certainly seem to get more out of it than the shlub on the floor at Wal Mart who completes the sale that pays for these women to stand around next to naked all day and get their pictures taken.

I get tired of seeing geeks line up to get a picture taken with a pretty woman, but I think it's for a different reason than you. I go to E3 because I'm interested in moving forward in the electronic entertainment industry. Really casual games and some less traditional stuff. The plain fact is that there are more guys doing the same thing that I am than there are women. I'd rather see attractive women than a bunch of sweaty guys. Booth babes help keep it copasetic. The sweaty guys lining up are often of average or above-average intelligence elsewhere in life. Somehow they can't piece together what it takes for them to get a chance to talk to women outside of this setting. I mean, there's nothing wrong with getting a memento of the occasion, but some guys go way overboard. There should never be a line to get a picture taken with a model. Maybe a couple people if she's really hot, but a line?

The expo would be better without anyone that would not come because there are no booth babes. That doesn't mean that I think there's something wrong with using attractive people to sell your product any more than there's something wrong with using a popular song to sell your product. I'd put those things on about the same level. Some people have a talent for programming, some people have athletic ability and some people are born with a pretty face. Advertisers have a place to use all of us.

Advertisers will use whatever potential customers react to in order to sell things. That's what they do. I react to good-looking women and unrealistic body images. So does the demographic these advertisers are targetting. I think this is just lowest-common-denominator advertising. It's not too hard to look at your audience and say "Most of these people are men. Men like women. Let's use women in the campaign." The more research you do and the more you pay for your advertising, the more refined the marketing is going to get. The industry is just getting into more advanced advertising schemes, breaking us out into smaller boxes. It doesn't have much to do with ethics or caring about women's body image, treating people right, or any of that other stuff.