High Beams on Mannequins

I thought I was imagining it,but it does seem that some mannequins in department stores have perky nipples, while others do not.  It seems that, unlike live women's, mannequins' bodies do not respond to chilly temps; anyway, this would not be a factor for either during summer in Huntsville, Alabama!

I'm curious about this.  Do they come that way in the factory, or did employees have to apply stick-on nipples to the department store dummies? 

("How was your work today, Herb?"

"Mom, it was a dull day, other than putting nipples on the department store dummies.")

Actually, in reading further, it seems that stores can purchase mannequins either way: those with nipples cost more than those without.  Even if the mannequins don't have heads and arms, but are only torsos.

(Arrgh!  Does this mean that nipples are more important than brains?)

And for what purpose?  Do mannequins with erect nipples translate into more sales?  Would male shoppers be more likely to frequent stores in which the mannequins are perky?  Or does this give them something to think about while they're in the husband/boyfriend park while their lady is shopping?

Or is it some kind of sexual fetish that windowdressers are vulnerable to?

And here's something else:  We've seen some towns or cities passing ordinances against lowrider pants?  Will some seedy city council in the Bible Belt pass an act forbidding mannequins from having nipples?

And, finally, we go to the one and only movie about mannequins, the one with Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.  Kim's nipples were not in evidence.



Other observers have also noticed this phenomenon:

http://www.granolabox.com/2008/01/18/marketing-101-nipples-on-mannequins/