THE INSIDER: New models aplenty but not the two-legged type
AUTO Shanghai 2015, one of China’s biggest trade shows, holds its first exhibition this week without models sprawled across car bonnets or prancing around a stage.Shanghai’s leaders decided to ban the models from the show partly to allow visitors to focus on the vehicles and gadgetry and not be distracted by scantily clad models, and partly to present the city as one that upholds high moral standards.Visitor numbers may drop for the biannual show (813,000 attended in 2013) as some who visited solely to view the female models and not the vehicle models may stay away.While the models will lose out on a decent pay cheque, gender activists believe the women were shanghaied into taking part in the first place: that is, trickery or smooth talk was used to put the models into undesirable positions on the bonnets or boots of cars.Still, the show goes on, and one of its organisers put out a positive if unclear sentence about what the massive exhibition means: "Its innovative concept and firs...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.