China Auto Demonstrate Looks to Cover Up Models
Auto display or undress display? In China, sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference.
But if Shanghai auto display officials have their way, the only models auto makers will be able to put on display will be the ones with wheels.
Organizers of the upcoming Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition told car makers on Friday to stop using models to promote their cars. The aim is to clean up gangly women – and the occasional man – who auto makers place next to their fresh vehicles, sometimes wearing little but goosebumps.
“We want visitors to concentrate on cars, rather than models,” said a director at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a major organizer of the motor showcase. He said the decision wasn’t final.
The demonstrate will open to the public from April twenty two through 29.
China’s largest auto shows alternates inbetween Beijing and Shanghai each year. In 2013, the last time Shanghai hosted, the showcase attracted 1,800 auto companies and 813,000 visitors. A total of 1,300 cars were displayed and more than Ten,000 journalists covered the demonstrate.
Auto shows elsewhere have eased back on the objectification in latest years, as the industry has battled perceptions of sexism. But exhibition lives on in auto shows in China.
The trade council director cited a barrage of criticism from state media that lashed out at auto makers for employing models with figure-hugging garments and come-hither looks.
For example, the China Central Television said in a latest program that auto shows in China are becoming fleshy exhibitions. “Skimpy garments degrade Chinese taste,” the report said.
Others say organizers could be heeding latest government and public concerns over safety in the wake of Fresh Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai.
Car companies often invite minor celebrities who sometimes display up in exposing garments that draw lots of guys with cameras. Last year at the Beijing showcase, fans thronged the booth of Hyundai Motor Corp.’s hoping to catch a peek of South Korean heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun. Organizers rescheduled his appearance last minute citing security reasons.
Victor Yang, spokesman for Chinese car maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said his company was told on Friday morning. In addition to state media criticism, Mr. Yang said the safety concern might also be a reason. “Look at the Shanghai stampede. I think the show’s organizing committee is taking a page from the incident,” he said. Mr. Yang was among the very first Chinese auto executives to take the news to Weibo.
At least thirty six people were killed in a Fresh Year’s Eve stampede in the glittery Bund district, one of the Chinese financial hub’s most popular tourist draws.
Still, others took to the Internet to express concerns that an auto display without female and masculine models won’t appeal to Chinese consumers.
“How many people will come to see a car showcase without car demonstrate models?” said a Sina Weibo user with a pseudonym “Jinjinfeel”.
-Rose Yu with contributions from Colum Murphy