Promotion girls spice up Jakarta Fair

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lina, as she prefers to be called, swivels her head from left to right, which causes her long black hair to swing in all directions.

Slowly smoothing her hair back in place with her left hand, she smiles as she greets visitors, both male and female, as she hands out promotional brochures to people who seem mesmerized by her looks.

"The secret," she said, "is to get people's attention with anything you have. If it is your hair or your eyes, then so be it and use it, because the objective is to hand out all these brochures.

"You do not expect me to give you a detailed explanation about water pumps, do you? You are not a homeowner and I know nothing about water pumps," said Lina, who works at an exhibition stand for a water pump company.

Lina is one of the more than 10,000 promotion girls tending some 1,140 exhibition stands at the Jakarta Fair 2003 in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, whose main duty is to attract visitors, mostly men, into buying their products.

The presence of the girls certainly sparks up the fair, which runs until July 13, as many businesses believe that pretty faces mean good business.

Jimmy, who owns a stand at the fair, said: "When I started operating a stand at the Jakarta Fair in 1995, I looked after my own stand and got such a low revenue.

"However, when I started to recruit promotion girls for my stand a few years ago, my profits tripled. Oh ... I sell sexual performance enhancement drugs."

He explained that he usually contacts a modeling agency to use the services of promotion girls. During one event at the Jakarta Fair, he needed about six to 10 girls at his stand.

"The agency usually charges me between Rp 75,000 (US$9) and Rp 350,000, per person per shift, depending on the girl's knowledge, experience, personality and, ultimately, looks," he said.

There has been some criticism directed toward promotion girls' knowledge and personality for becoming companies' marketing tools as many of them are hired only for their looks, and are usually not given any information on the products being sold.

"I never get a proper explanation from a promotion girl as they are mostly clueless about the products they are selling," said Aji, a visitor at the fair.

However, people often underestimate what the promotion girls are capable of accomplishing as salespersons, while like most men, Aji submitted when several very attractive and persistent promotion girls persuaded him to buy some products that he did not need.

"I just bought a bottle of honey and a bottle of car shampoo, whereas I hate sweet stuff and I do not own a car.

"Are we (men) weak and stupid? I guess we are," he told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, Vanya, 28, said that she had been working as a promotion girl for about nine years and has made a career out of it.

"I was originally signed by a modeling agency as I wanted to become a professional model or a movie actress. During the lean years when there were no modeling jobs, I became a promotion girl.

"However, the more I realized that the competition in the movie and fashion industries was too stiff, I shifted directions and tried to find an alternative way to make a living," she said.

She said she soon decided to develop her own network from the many trade events she had frequented, and managed to make a career out of being a promotion girl from one trade event to the other, without having to rely on the help of an agency.

"I have traveled as far as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Dubai, with all expenses paid for by fair organizers and I was given a good sum of money for it," she said.

However, she recognized that promotion girls were often associated with "brainless beauties" as most companies did not put any effort into developing the girls' knowledge on the products being sold and instead utilized them as part of the companies' marketing strategy of flaunting sex appeal to sell products, even though it was often unnecessary.

"We help businesses generate money and I like doing what I do and being acknowledged for my looks. For people like me who have failed in other endeavors, this job can boost self-esteem," she said.