An electronics store has been at the receiving end of public displeasure in Hanoi after it employed promotional girls wearing bikinis to greet customers.
A series of photos showing promotion girls at a Tran Anh Electronic Centre and in bikinis caught everyone's attention when it was posted on internet on April 28. The women were hired to promote new air-conditioners to customers and stand by the entrance to the shop.
Young girls in bikinis
The locals said it was quite a surprise when dozens of young women in bikinis involved in the promotional work. They were even tasked with helping park customers' vehicles to parking lots and leading members of the public inside.
Hoa, a local living nearby, said, "I think it was shameful. There are many ways to do promotion why do they have to use this? It's offensive."
Many internet citizens said that it was cheap marketing and women were objectified.
Tran Anh representative said it was a sex education project
The next day, a Tran Anh representative said it was not a promotional campaign for the store, but instead a sex education project as many young people had not been taught about this subject.
Tran Anh, the representative claimed, had co-operated with a partner to make a sex education video series so they used a time in the day when the store had few customers to record a demo video that would be several minutes long. They claimed they did not intend for the bikini clad women to be so visible, despite tasking them with activities outside of the store.
