Okay, it’s an exaggeration. The ladies aren’t whores. They’re selling underwear not sex. According to the Associated Press (11/28/05), an Augusta, Maine undergarment store has live models advertising bare minimum wares in its storefront window.

As always, the response to this creative marketing approach is a mixture of both reproach and praise.

Some folks see it as an exciting example of the entrepreneurial spirit. “It’s like a New York thing. It’s urban. It’s edgy,” said Stacy Gervais, open-minded proprietor of Stacy’s Hallmark Store and founding member of a downtown merchants group. “We need a shtick — something that we do that attracts people and gets us remembered.” Thank you Stacy, for explaining that word shtick to me. I thought that perhaps you meant to say “stick” after licking too many envelopes down at the card store. Anyway, I’m sure there’s another word hard to wrap your lips around that also rhymes with shtick, filling out the fronts of your citizenry’s dungarees thanks to this semi-clad ad campaign.

I digress while others are outraged. “It’s tainting the wholesome businesses down here,” said Carrie Rossignol, self-righteous co-owner of the Video Game Exchange. “I think it’s selfish, and I think it’s morally reprehensible.” That’s right, when I think of wholesomeness I think of video game retailers, since nothing spells moral superiority along with a generous nature than selling virtual violence and sex to young people at prices too high for most parents to pay. Maybe that’s just the problem, now instead of horny gaming geeks paying 50 bucks to jerk off to used copies of Tomb Raider, they’re are all down standing for free in front of Felicia Stockford’s aptly named lingerie boutique, Spellbound (and drooling, I assume).

Ms. Rossignol might consider pulling the, um, “shtick” out of her own ass and renting a Lara Croft costume to wear in her own window. If she can’t beat the morally reprehensible, she might still learn a valuable selling lesson from them!