The Surfers Paradise Meter Maids have been a part of the Gold Coast for over 40 years, but last week their appearance at the Tech-Ed convention upset Microsoft. The irony being that it was Microsoft which hired them in the first place.
Microsoft’s Tech-Ed conference kicked off early last week at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Center with a welcoming reception meeting and greeting the 2,700 invited guests. Among that welcoming reception were were a couple of Surfers Paradise Meter Maids dressed in their trademark gold outfits. Not bikinis, but tight hotpants and three-quarter length jackets. So far, so good, at least for the majority of the mostly male crowd.
Unfortunately, a number of the attendees complained about the Meter Maids and their attire. The problem seemed to be the idea that the Meter Maids objectify women, and this was hardly suitable at a conference where one of the panels was discussing how to entice more women into joining the IT industry.
Microsoft then issued an apology, with a statement reading:
The Australian Tech.Ed team would like to sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the promotional staff who were manning the remote controlled car exhibit at the Tech.Ed welcome reception. We were unaware of their exact costuming until the day of the event, at which time it was too late to be addressed.
Fair enough. No one wants to upset anyone unduly, and Microsoft quickly moved to calm the whole thing down. Except for one fact: Meter Maids boss Roberta Aitchison claims that Microsoft knew exactly what they had booked, and knew exactly what the girls would be wearing on the day.
She told the Sydney Morning Herald:
The garments were chosen specifically by them over a period of two to three weeks of them looking at photographs of the girls. They came back to me by email stating which garments they would like the girls to be wearing.
So someone is lying to cover their mistake, and I doubt it’s the Meter Maids. Mainly because they have no reason to do so.
Isn’t this all a big eruption over nothing anyway? If the Surfers Paradise Meter Maids‘ outfits were accepted and acceptable in the 1960s, why should it be any different in 2010? I guess it all depends on whether you think a woman wearing a bikini anywhere other than on the beach is offensive to women. Personally, I don’t.
Of course, It was like that when we got here!
Storm in a tea cup – if it was a company other than Microsoft, no one would care.