Scantily clad female models draped over car bonnets were conspicuous by their absence as China’s premier auto show opened yesterday, after such displays were reportedly banned.
Past Auto Shanghai events and others elsewhere in China featured “car models” — che mo in Chinese — who shot to fame for the skimpiness of their outfits, with netizens dubbing the phenomenon “selling flesh.”
According to a directive leaked to Chinese media, organizers of this year’s event aimed to bring attention back to the curves of the vehicles and create an “orderly, clean and safe” atmosphere.
The move also followed a deadly New Year’s Eve stampede in Shanghai, which prompted the government to crack down on events that could cause dangerous overcrowding. Like veteran bird-watchers, show visitors swapped accounts of real and possibly imagined models.
“We saw some people looking model-ish around there,” an industry official said.
Japan’s Toyota substituted females for a row of young men in black polo shirts.
“We’re just standing here. We’re not models,” one said when asked about his role.
Suzuki did have female models alongside its cars, but they were fully covered in all-white dresses with scarves around their necks.
According to the leaked directive, organizers had urged exhibitors to “put an end to the phenomenon of all types of vulgarity, harm to civilized society and ill-intentioned sensationalism,” ordering them to provide visitors with “artistic enjoyment” instead.
Ford lacked female models, but the US automaker displayed two dancers interacting with computer images on a giant screen to launch its new Taurus model into the Chinese market.
They even went through a rapid costume change on stage, but with their modesty preserved — by a curtain for the man and a red flag for the woman.
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