Basic Trope: A sexually appealing character or image is used to market a service or product, even if sex appeal has nothing whatsoever to do with the thing being marketed.
- Straight: Alice works her company's booth at a trade show while wearing a skimpy bikini, to attract customers.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice works the booth completely nude, for the viewing pleasure of the customers.
- Alice removes articles of her clothing based on certain sales milestones for the day, with a large fundraiser-style thermometer display off to the side keeping track.
- Alice, Claire, Rachel, and Maria all work the booth while wearing skimpy bikinis.
- Alice goes topless at the booth, holding a pair of the product suggestively over her breasts as she discusses the product with customers.
- Alice flashes her breasts, allows herself to be groped, or performs other lewd favors for customers who purchase a certain volume of product.
- Played Literally: Alice straight up has sex with her customer, and if they want to finish inside, they better buy the product.
- Downplayed: Alice is so attractive that her presence at the booth increases sales, without the need for revealing clothing or explicitly sexual displays.
- Justified:
- The company's sales are lower than ever, and they're trying anything to make a name for themselves.
- Alice is a professional model, so while her attractiveness might still have nothing to do with the product, her employment in this capacity makes sense.
- The company is a bikini manufacturer.
- The company is a modeling agency.
- Inverted: Alice is extremely unattractive, and her company has her man the booth as part of an insurance scam where they want the product to sell poorly so the company fails.
- Gender-Inverted: Bob, with his chiseled physique, runs the booth in swimming trunks.
- Subverted:
- The customers are all women.
- The customers are all gay men.
- The customers are all blind men.
- Double Subverted:
- The women customers are all lesbians.
- If the customers are gay men, then Alice is replaced by the gay Mr. Fanservice Bob.
- For the blind customers, Alice has details about the product written in Braille... on her bikini top.
- Parodied: While Alice talks to Bob from inside her changing stall, she laments having to dress in a ridiculous outfit to attract customers. She goes on to say the weather isn't even right for this outfit, and wonders if people are just going to stare. Finally, she opens the curtain to reveal that she is now garbed in multiple heavy coats and scarves, and the company is revealed to be a manufacturer of winter wear.
- Zig-Zagged: After cycling through several different revealing outfits at the booth with varying levels of sales success — including a flag bikini, an armored bikini, a mermaid costume, and a bellydancing outfit — Alice concludes that her presence really isn't helping to boost sales after all. As she changes back into her initial outfit in a changing stall beside the booth, the curtain on her changing stall falls down, exposing her nudity to all the customers waiting in line. Suddenly, sales at the booth skyrocket.
- Averted: Alice prepares to change into her bikini, when the booth staff tells her that corporate has decided against the bikini idea for PR reasons.
- Enforced: "We want fanservice, but don't want Alice to look like a slut. Let's make it so dressing skimpily is part of her job!"
- Lampshaded: "Wow, this outfit sure has nothing to do with our product. Maybe it'll get me a raise. Anyway, time to start the bikini photoshoot."
- Invoked: Bob sees Alice lounging in a bikini on the beach, and figures she'd make for a great booth babe at his booth at the trade show. He signs her to a contract on the spot.
- Exploited: Bob notices lots of customers wanting to talk to Alice at the booth, on account of her attractiveness. He quickly gets the go-ahead for her to change into a skimpy bikini.
- Defied: Bob brings up that Alice should wear a bikini at the booth to boost sales. Alice immediately refuses, and the topic isn't brought up again.
- Discussed: "She sure is good-looking. Well, put me down for twenty shipments."
- Conversed: "Really? They've reduced Alice to a saleswoman in a bikini now?" "Who else?"
- Implied: After a successful convention, Bob is counting the money from all the sales. He tells Alice (who is clothed conservatively) that her bikini during the trade show sure didn't hurt. Alice rolls her eyes.
- Deconstructed:
- Other attendants at the show complain to the administrators that Alice's manner of dress has nothing to do with the product being sold, and might be too explicit for children in attendance.
- An executive from high up in the company visits the booth, and tells the staff that Alice's manner of dress has nothing to do with their product, and this booth is giving their company a sleazy reputation.
- The booth goes viral negatively on social media, as taking advantage of Alice and as pandering shamelessly to sex appeal.
- Reconstructed:
- When the administrators visit Alice's booth to inspect the complaints, Alice takes them to a conference room, and says she'd really like to show them a couple of persuasive arguments to keep her current wardrobe. Some time later, the administrators emerge from the conference room with big, dopey grins on their faces (along with some lipstick smudges), and happily say they see no problem with the booth. This is followed shortly by Alice emerging, while readjusting her top.
- The booth staff show the executive their sales numbers since they had Alice dress in a bikini, and the executive suddenly retracts his argument and tells them to carry on.
- The booth staff record a livestream to counter the negative social media, where they interview Alice and she explains that it's all of her own volition and no one is taking advantage of anyone. During the stream, the interviewer accidentally snags his microphone on Alice's bikini top, ripping it off and baring her breasts to the stream of thousands. Sales skyrocket instantly.
- Played for Laughs:
- A customer asks Alice if this is all a publicity stunt for sales, and she denies it sternly just as she starts the Q&A event in which she will answer questions about the product while jumping rope in her bikini.
- Alice proudly declares that she's taken some time at the show to mentor a number of up-and-coming saleswomen in her "methodology." The camera pans across to reveal a line of attractive young women, all clad in revealing bikinis and holding their respective products.
- A disgruntled colleague points out that the only reason Alice is drawing so many sales is because of her skimpy bikini. Alice counters that she can easily prove that's not true, and promptly undoes her bikini top, then opens it in the direction of the customers. Sales at the booth skyrocket, and as Alice covers up once more, she chides that clearly, the bikini had nothing to do with it.
- One of the booth staff tells Bob they'll have to pivot from selling their actual product to also selling flowers, fine wine, and jewelry. When Bob asks if this was a decision from corporate, the booth attendant points to Alice, and we see that Alice is waist-deep in bouquets, jewelry boxes, and other gifts from all the customers attempting to court her.
- The company is a food wholesaler, and they can't figure out why certain items are selling unusually well at the trade show: melons, cantaloupes, coconuts, and milk jugs, among others. Bob asks Alice if she has any idea why these are hot items, and she turns to the camera while coincidentally holding a pair of milk jugs over her chest, underneath a huge banner that says "Come and Suck On Our Jugs!" She shrugs and admits that she has no idea.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice feels uncomfortable being used unapologetically as a sex object.
- Alice has been told by corporate that she might face a pay cut or outright termination if she doesn't go along with this, despite her misgivings.
- While at the booth, Alice has to put up with clumsy advances, artless flirtation, and crass comments from customer after customer, causing her to rethink her career and her opinion of men in general.
- Played for Horror: Unbeknownst to the customers, the product being sold is highly toxic and will kill anyone who uses it in a gruesome fashion.
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