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Archive for May 14th, 2008

Boobonomics

Posted by Mr. Thoughtful on May 14, 2008

Here is a good description of how agents create value for their clients’ nude pics.  It’s written by Janice Turner of the Times online:

A friend who spends his life negotiating with the agents of glamour models explained to me the principles of “boobonomics”. Let’s assume a pretty girl, who has been snapped in her bikini for a local newspaper, seeks a big-time career. Her agent phones a men’s magazine and proposes for a given sum, say £3,000 [ed: that's $5,800 USD or 3,800 Euros], that she pose in lingerie.

If she’s a hit with the readers, her agent will then suggest that for a greater sum, say £5,000 [ed: that's $9,700 USD or 6,300 Euros], she will pose topless, but with her nipples concealed by her cupped fingers (“hand bra”). Subsequently her fee will rise for each coy permutation: “hair bra” or “girl-on-girl bra” (two models face to face shielding each other’s breasts). Eventually, once this dance of the seven thongs has been exhausted and readers are believed to be slavering with anticipation, the agent will propose that for a huge sum say £50,000 [ed: $97,000 USD or 63,000 Euros] the girl will finally reveal all.

But the harshest principle of boobonomics is that after this shoot, the value of the girl’s assets which is what they are in a technical, business sense collapses. From this point she will only receive £20K for full topless, a sum she only recently received for showing far less. Her product life cycle is reaching an end. Now, however, agents have a new strategy for reviving the brand, rather as when Kit Kat launched peanut or orange-flavoured variants. He proposes that his client have a breast enlargement: would the magazine be interested in the first pictures, you know, when the scars have healed? The going rate for new knockers will never match her initial “reveal”, but raises her value momentarily to, say, £35,000. Jordan, the Milton Friedman of boobonomics, has amassed a great fortune increasing her breast size by increments in three operations.

 

I had never heard the term “hand bra”. 
As a bonus, the article alerted me to a website I have never heard of: Assess My Breasts.  It’s sort of like the “are you hot or not” website, only for topless pics.  Women send in topless pics and people rate them.

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Good-looking women bring in more money soliciting for donations

Posted by Mr. Thoughtful on May 14, 2008

I’ve blogged before on how important appearance is.  I regularly encounter research that shows appearance is important even in activities in which most people don’t think it is important.  Here’s today’s installment of this idea:

In a narrow but very compelling piece of research, John List argued that if you are trying to solicit donations door-to-door, the single best thing you can do to get large donations is to be an attractive blond woman.

Hat tip: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/how-pure-is-your-altruism/#more-2615

It always amazes me that so many people strong resist the notion that appearance plays such a powerful role in so many activities.  They will accept the idea that appearance plays a big role in dating (although even here many people underestimate the impact of good looks), but will stoutly resist the idea that good looks has an impact in other areas.

Sales and marketing people are, on average, way more attractive than accountants or engineers.  That can’t be accidental.  They’re hired at least partly based on appearance.  Pharmaceutical sales reps are a famous example of this.  The vast majority of them are in the top 5% of attractiveness. 

In coming weeks I’ll write about other examples of appearance playing a big role in areas in which most people wouldn’t think so. 

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