Microsoft Hired a Bunch of Models in Skimpy Schoolgirl Outfits for an Industry Party

Before I go on my traditional mini rant, let me begin by saying the head of Xbox games, who sponsored the party, and the head of Microsoft both came out saying, in effect, “holy shit was that a horrible decision and we feel like complete assholes and while we can’t actually say we are going to fire whoever put this party together, we are totally going to fire whoever put this party together.”

So I don’t want to pile too much abuse on a company that seems to recognize how stupid it was to host a women in gaming panel on the same day they hired some sexy Catholic schoolgirls to encourage gamer nerds to dance.

I will, however, heap abuse on whoever actually decided to hire the sexy Catholic schoolgirls.

Because what in the hell were they thinking?  In a time when their industry is under heavy fire for not really giving a shit about women gamers, they decided it’d be a good time to blatantly not give a shit about women gamers.

I did a Google search for “woman gamer” and found this image. The internet is a strange and wonderful place.

They could have hired ripped dudes to dress up as Italian plumbers for a little gender balance and it still would have been a dumb PR move but probably wouldn’t have resulted in quite the uproar they are currently experiencing.

I realize the return on investment may have seemed lower given gaming is still very much a male dominated industry but when you are throwing thousands of dollars at a dance party for gamers, you may have already been making poor investment choices.

Maybe if it had been a Dance Dance Revolution party for gamers…

PS: After reading this article, I do think it’s important to address the dancers.  They were doing a job for which they were hired.  There is nothing wrong with that.

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