I’m in Taipei at this year’s Computex and while I’m enjoying my time with publishers from sites like JKKMobile, Netbook News, Akihabara News and Tweaktown, I’m honestly a little weirded out by prevalence of the booth babes.

Sex has always been used to sell products and I know that booth babes exist at other US tradeshows and in US overseas efforts like Yahoo’s Hack Day. Still, I’m uncomfortable with the overtness of so many bikini-clad ladies demoing tablets to me. And then it struck me.

Is David Beckham as Samsung’s brand ambassador a mobile category expert? Are Lady Gaga and Will.i.am qualified creative directors for Polaroid and Intel? Is the booth babe just a Taiwanese version of the often irrelevant celebrity endorser? And to what end?

THE ROLE OF THE BOOTH BABE IN BRAND LOYALTY
In a city that is the center of the computer manufacturing universe, competitors use the same factories and components, the product surplus makes for highly negotiable pricing, and patent laws are far less sticky than in the Western world.

Booth babes are the face of thousands of vendors selling unsexy products at a time when product releases and features are indistinguishable. They appear (at least to an outsider) to be a function of marketing that is meant to increase brand loyalty and exposure. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - unless you’ve got a topic-based expert vouching for you, you’re unlikely to get others to purchase big ticket items with gimmicks. It’s unfortunate that in this case, the gimmick is a person and it’s so bloody sexist.

When companies feel like they must use questionable tactics to survive, it makes me wonder about the true lifespan of mindshare in this industry of plenty. I know I’m approaching this as a wǎiguórén (foreigner), an old school feminist, and an uptight Canadian, so if you’re reading this and disagree I’d love to hear your thoughts.