(We're trying something new: this article is also readable as captions along a photo gallery.)

We've all seen them. Attractive women wearing attractive clothing, high heels, and a smile — standing next to some of the hottest machinery ever crafted. 

Besides being a brutal reminder that the auto show season coincides with winter in Canada—and cocktail dresses join baby seals as endangered species—"booth babes" are far more than meets the eye.

Technically, they're called product specialists — a blanket term for spokespeople who work everything from trade events to auto shows to drifting competitions. Apart from helping spike website traffic to every automotive publication during the auto show season thanks to click-happy males, they play an important role in disseminating product knowledge.

But it hasn't always been that way. Today, the slang "booth babe" is used but early on the only qualification for the job was to look as good in a sequinned dress as possible. From posing in swimsuits to getting attacked by lions (more on that later), the early impetus was on pure eye candy — exactly the stuff that would get the family breadwinner to part from his (yes, his) hard-earned cash.

Early on, it was a simple formula: "Girl + car = sales." But The Booth Babe, a real-life working product specialist and blogger explains things more eloquently. TBB's name has been withheld for security reasons — in many companies that deal with specialists, her blogging about the industry could equal grounds for dismissal. Anyway, she took the time to answer some questions, especially why automakers still employ what most still see as "booth babes."

"People, male or female, are naturally drawn to things that are aesthetically pleasing," she says. "A beautiful car and a beautiful woman in front of a beautiful vista is much nicer to look at than a beautiful car with some snaggletoothed, unwashed hillbilly draped across the hood in a ghetto parking lot."

Her role, actually, is far more than getting dolled up and standing tall next to expensive machinery. TBB says that Margery Krevsky, the President and CEO of Productions Plus was instrumental in selling automakers on women who were both attractive and knowledgeable about the products they stood beside. Krevsky's company still casts a large chunk of the talent you'll see at an auto show.

Krevsky wrote a book, actually, about the industry. Called Sirens of Chrome, it details the changes in an industry from the "boy's club" 50s to the more progressive 90s. Now, both men and women product specialists have the same sort of background, TBB says. They're actors, models, other performers, and pro drivers who have a keen interest in cars and "don't puke at the thought of speaking in front of a huge crowd."

"We started literally as hood ornaments," TBB says, "and now are the go-to experts not just at the auto show, but at marketing events across the country. 

"Krevsky recognized years and years ago that we could contribute to automotive marketing on a much larger scale than by just standing around looking pretty. We are walking, talking product handbooks, and how well we answer questions about the vehicles we represent has a direct impact on whether that attendee will buy our car or one of our competitor's."

With hundreds of new or updated vehicles on the market each year, that means a lot of studying. To write about cars for a publication and actually advise the public on what vehicle to buy requires no real product knowledge (or writing skill.) Ironically, the "babes" in cocktail dresses and heels probably know far more about vehicles than your average Saturday paper automotive writer.

"Every year we have an intensive training session lasting several days in which we go over every vehicle on our lineup with a fine tooth comb, learning all the new features and how they compare not only to the previous model year but to competitive vehicles," TBB says.

"Our trainers, all of whom have engineering backgrounds, have intimate knowledge of not just our product line but automotive technology in general. We leave with piles and piles of information—literally a suitcase full—that we digest during the ensuing weeks before the auto show season starts.

"Sometimes some of this info is rather top secret, albeit temporarily – it might have to do with details of a concept the company is working on or a new vehicle release or redesign, the details of which have not yet been released to the press. They want us to have time to learn everything by the time the information goes public. Throughout the year we are constantly kept up-to-date with new information as it becomes available."

That's a far cry from the early days. As mentioned before, many "specialists" were considered mere eye candy who became involved with ever-more-elaborate stunts to attract attention. Once every carmaker has a lineup of attractive women, it's no longer enough to have them standing around – they should be doing something. One such "something" happened to Nell Theobald in April 1968 at the International Auto Show in New York. Theobald was hired to be "Miss BMW"—nothing out of the ordinary—but was also required to share her stand space with a lion.

Yes, a lion. During a photo shoot (and right after a cutesy promotional photo was taken) she was bitten in the leg by the lion, "effectively ending her career," as Steve Purdy, writer for theautochannel.com says. Today's product specialists still have to face sketchy situations, but thankfully they are slightly less life-threatening. After asked why it seems much of her blog centres around a lack of etiquette, TBB says the job has opened her eyes to some difficult members of the population.

"It isn't just a lack of etiquette, although the public at large certainly does seem to have forgotten how to use the key phrases "please," "thank you," and "excuse me." This job has opened my eyes to the still-strong undercurrent of sexism in our society," TBB says. "When I try to discuss this on my blog I receive comments such as, "What do you expect when you're wearing a miniskirt?

"It doesn't matter what myself or anyone else is wearing: everyone deserves respect regardless of their appearance. It quickly became apparent to me that a large segment of men think an attractive woman can't possibly know anything about cars. Frankly, I know more than most of the salespeople and nearly all the attendees," TBB says. 

Her experiences include accounts of show attendees walking around barefoot between stands, and a mother who decided to change her newborn's diaper…on a show display. 

Clearly, product specialists have to deal with far more than knowing every product they represent or spending six hour shifts under hot lights in five-inch heels. She says that a dreaded double shift may mean 14 hours on the show floor, "…answering the same questions over and over while people try to sneak photos of your butt and make snide comments about everything you can imagine. Now think about doing that for 14 hours."

"I'd like to introduce you to my friend, the dirty martini," she says.

One occupational hazard that stands out? TBB made a list of things she's seen parents allow their children do in show cars, including "licking the rear seat control mechanisms."  Yuck.

So what's the future for product specialists? Thanks to the work by Krevsky, the fact that each has a vast well of product information means that "booth babes" (and "booth bros") will remain a fixture at auto shows as approachable professionals who can get attendees interested in vehicles on the show floor. For trade events like the performance part-oriented SEMA show, however, still mostly employ pure "eye candy." 

As TBB says, most modern product specialists are far more than that; an initially over-simplistic job description has given way to real purpose for manufacturers.

"At the auto show, it's all about getting people into your display and keeping them there," TBB says. "Beautiful cars and beautiful product specialists might get people into the display, but our approachability—and most importantly our knowledge—keep them there." 

Special thanks to TBB and her highly entertaining blog, at doyoucomewiththecar.blogspot.com. If you find this topic interesting, take a look at Krevsky's book, Sirens of Chrome. TBB told us that most of the women featured in the photo gallery were models and not product specialists. Why? On journalist press days, many manufacturers staff their booths for extra "wow" factor. Lame.