T

he girls stand tall in high heels and smile gracefully with their long hair down, selling products to customers in malls and exhibitions across Jakarta every day.

Companies hire these sales promotion girls (SPG) to promote their businesses and products, even when the service or merchandise has nothing to do with women’s needs.

Rio Dwi, an SPG agency employee, said that the main criteria for the job was height.

“We have two categories: grade A for girls with a minimum height of 165 centimeters, and grade B for those with a minimum height of 160 centimeters,” he said.

Rio said that height grade determined the girls’ pay rates.

“Most of the clients — especially those from big companies — usually look for the grade A girls. The grade B ones are usually employed by cosmetics companies to work in shopping centers, for example,” he said.

Grade A SPGs usually get Rp 400,000 (US$47) per eight-hour shift, while the grade B girls earn Rp 350,000 per shift.

Rio said the agency had around 400 SPGs aged between 20 and 26 years old.

Another agency uses a different method of job agreement with the SPGs.

The agency where Juanda Sarifudin works lets the girls choose from the companies that are willing to hire them.

Juanda said that, in his agency, once he had the criteria a company wanted, he disseminated the information through a mailing list.

“The company contacts me and tells me what kind of sales promotion girls they want. If the company wants girls with long, blonde hair, 170 centimeters tall and of a certain weight, I let the girls know, and those who think they match the criteria can register,” he said.

Juanda said his agency had over 800 SPGs and was open to all applicants. However, clients preferred good-looking girls, he added.

“Good-looking here means they have flawless skin, not too dark, long hair — presentable ones, because they will be the image of the brand,” he said.

The girls range from 20 to 27 years old and are paid between Rp 200,000 and Rp 1 million per shift.

“The more experienced a sales promotion girl is and the harder her task is, the higher the fee will be.”

Juanda said each girl received training to better equip them to communicate with customers.

He said the girls learned selling techniques and product knowledge for three days, among other topics, because they were sometimes hired to sell products based on targets set by the clients, he added.

Fit Sahara, 24, said that, apart from getting basic training from the agency, she also typically got a brief explanation from the company on its products.

“It’s not that easy to sell, but since I was once sales staff at a clothing company, I was already used to it,” she said.

Sarah said she became interested in sales promotion work when she was in college, as she wanted to find an after-school activity.

“The extra money I got was also worth the effort. I could earn around Rp 600,000 a day if the company paid me well,” Sarah, who is 165 centimeters and 50 kilograms, said.

Alnysia, 18, said she loved being a sales promotion girl because she liked meeting new people and could make lots of friends.

“I have been working as a sales promotion girl for two years, and I hope it can help me in a marketing career when I graduate from college,” Alnysia said during her break at an exhibition.

Sarah said she was thankful that in her seven years as a sales promotion girl, she had never experienced any sexual harassment.

“Some guys have teased me several times, asking for my phone number. But never more than that,” she said.