Opinion

Sex still sells in Singapore

Chris ReedIn this guest post, Chris Reed calls out Singapore’s top newspaper The Straits Times for double standards over its editorial stance on the objectification of women.

I found it very ironic that in the same edition of the Singaporean broadsheet The Straits Times that an editorial article condemning Chinese car shows for using half naked models to bring customers in should also include two ads that featured half naked models promoting shows – one a car show in Singapore.

Straits Times article

Straits Times article

Worse.

The Cars@Expo advert with a half naked model enticing you to attend is organised by Singapore Press Holdings, the publisher of The Straits Times.

This was one of a string of half page ads which featured a different half naked model each time, and each time the model is in a brightly coloured costume and dominates the page.

The car was barely noticeable in the background.

Total hypocrisy.

Clearly sex still sells products and shows in Singapore. And there appear to be few signs that the tactic is to be retired, despite increasingly vocal opponents who call it out for sexism and objectifying women.

The Cars Expo

The other advert was from the bastion of Singapore brands, Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Turf Club. Clearly Singapore Airlines have always branded their airline with sex appeal using sexy Singapore girls since the airline was first created to brand and differentiate their airline. The Turf Club are clearly desperate to bring customers to their shows in the face of the mighty casinos, sorry integrated resorts as they like to be called in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, which have taken most of their custom.

Turf Belles ad

The Turf Belles, as the half-naked ladies are called, are clearly aimed at the mass market of punters. As any brand will tell you, the lowest common denominator when it comes to advertising is sex and using half naked girls is as low as you can go in attracting punters. If all else fails try a half-naked shot of a pretty Singaporean girl next to your product and see if that works before we give up, goes the thinking.

SPH’s other exhibition arm Exhibits Inc are currently marketing their IT Show using “Booth Babes”. I had double check but actually they may as well have called them the “Boob Babes” and be done with it.

Booth Babes contest

Come and see the “Booth Babes” is one of the reasons for attending the show used in the marketing. “Snap a selfie with our any of the Booth Babes and stand to WIN again!” the contest blurb reads.

Forget about the IT, c’mon and leer at the girls.

The irony is that the mood in Asia has swung away from this.

The article condemning the use of pretty half naked girls to sell a car show in Beijing follows many others that also highlighted the ban on “models” to sell car shows and cars.

All that happens is that these “models” became “sales assistants” and “tour guides” to get around the ban. They still got photographed lounging over cars provocatively, their skirts were just longer…

Isn’t it time that Asia and Singapore stopped reaching for the lowest reason to attend a show and actually sell the values of the show itself?

Is the show that bad that events have to be sold on sex?

It’s got to be pretty terrible show if you need semi-clad models and the Turf Belles to sell it for you.

Chris Reed is the global CEO of Black Marketing

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