Pretty girls can be a good design element to draw the users' eye toward something on your site. But this post is more about bringing in new traffic; web design is another topic.
To answer your ROI question, the girls modeled for free and I sold about 20,000 shirts. Also, they didn't show vaginas (at least not on the publicly facing parts of my site). Here's an example:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pud/58650101/in/set-1268624
Oh, bullshit. I saw plenty of poon on your site, guy, and I was no member. I understand it may be embarrassing ten years later that you used nudity as a cheap come-on, but don't deny it or refer to it as web design. Please.
"They built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men.
On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed.
Except for one man armed with an AK-47, and a Honda full of silver"
I forgot the other great FC quote about the never ending housing bubble.
"It's a new paradigm, and everybody who doesn't buy, now, will be priced out forever. Anybody who does buy will be rewarded with a lifetime of riches, as their property will continue its 30% yearly price increase.
Renters, and anybody born in a future generation, will not be able to afford a $15,000,000 starter home in 15 years. They will live in tent cities, and Hondas.
This asset bubble is different than all of the others - it will never slow down, or pop. The gains are permanent.
Pud already admitted to it in his reply. I have no idea why he's ashamed of it now and is trying to pass it off as "web design". Or maybe he's betting that nobody who reads HN remembers the bubble days when Pub made his living off of reporting other people's economic demise, exploiting women to sell schwag and other crappy web me-too's.
You know, I've never heard anyone say that their ads were part of the design, coochy or no coochy. I guess strippers are just part of the strip club decor; everyone's really just there for the awesome DJ and the bargain drinks.
Anyways, I'll continue to take Pud at his word when he's offering up advice.
Not sure what the ROI on those Fucked Company t-shirts were, but I'm sure they generated page views.