That struck me less like "subscription economy, wink wink, here's a hot chick and all the associated connotations of women and payment" - and more like "it's the subscription economy! everything is great! here's a happy person to represent the future potential"

In defense of the parent comment:

It's absolutely a deliberate choice to include an attractive woman in that slide's background photo, just as it was a deliberate choice for the doors to be gold.

I'd guess that people looking at the slide most consciously notice the conspicuous gold doors.

But we all also notice that there's some sort of person standing there. That person is greeting us with a smile.

We may not process it consciously, but many viewers of the slide are definitely also attuned to the attractiveness of the person. We might notice the bare legs, the skirt, the shoes, the braid of hair casually laying on the shoulder. The bit of midriff showing.

Many readers will think "sexy" even if we're not aware of the thought.

This choice is intentional, because sex sells.

The majority of the intended audience is straight men, so this is probably an effective sales practice, but at the same time it strikes some of us as cheap. The body of the woman in this photo is being used as an object and simply as a means to an end. And the audience is being appealed to on a basis unrelated to the value of the product for sale.

Try these ideas:

- Imagine the same photo, but where the woman is dressed in [more modest] business casual attire, holding a binder with notes for an important meeting.

- Imagine the same photo, but with an attractive sexy man smiling at us. Maybe he's showing some toned biceps or perhaps even a glimpse of abs.

- Imagine the same photo, but with a middle-aged white man dressed in a suit and tie.

- Imagine the same photo, but with a large black woman beaming confidence in formal business attire.

In all of these cases (except maybe the abs), you probably wouldn't consciously notice the details, but they would definitely all color your subconscious impression differently.

I agree. That particular slide really struck me as being "attention grabbing" in a way that had nothing to do with the actual point they were making on the slide.

It's a cool photo and visually appealing but I cannot think of a single thing about the image that has anything to do with the idea that "we are all living in a subscription economy."

I can think of some slides that would evoke that. Like a slide with an animation of money flowing out of my pocket incessantly as calendar pages are torn off a calendar. :)

I am feeling a bit biased against the "subscription economy" right now after only narrowly avoiding the "router as a subscription" that my internet provider wanted to saddle me with this weekend when I upgraded my plan.

Thanks, I completely agree. The image has little to do with the caption, and it is very carefully crafted to be subliminally suggestive rather than overtly sexual.

I'm not saying these things should be censored or permanently banned--

--However, I am definitely saying everyone should strive to be better than this.

Zuora should use neutral imagery and win deals based on technical and reputational superiority. If they're winning because of a flashier pitch deck, then my post is lamenting this irrational form of deal-making :(

You know how they say there's no dirty words, just dirty minds?

This comment reminded them of that. Talk about going around looking for a chance to be offended.

This is just a stock image to add some human element. It's not 'let's put a sexy image there'. It could have just as well been some guy on the street or whatever.

Nor does "skinny young blonde girl's legs." mean anything. She has legs. Most of us do. They aren't prominent, nor is she provocatively dressed. Or what that she's blonde? If is she was redhead or brunette one could just as easily talk about "skinny young brunette's girl's legs". It's not some sexual image, end of story.

In what way is that a picture of legs? It'd be more accurate to describe it as a picture of a door.

I just read the article and I don’t even remember the girl.