Sales Tactic or Hate Crime?

Hey y'all from the great state of Texas. That's right, this blog is coming to you from the land where everything is bigger but the roads are still as confusing. I'm still trying to figure out which way is north. . . no mountains.
On Monday we set out on our average vacation shopping trip to a city called Round Rock. They have an outlet mall there that is chalked full of stuff that we still can't afford (Calvin, Kenneth and Coach all made an appearance of course but I didn't seem to have enough Benjamin, Abe or George to go around). We were meandering (yes, I do think you can only REALLY do this in Texas) through the stores and came upon a couple of kiosks with rather 'excited' employees working in them. Little did I know what we were about to get into.
The first kiosk we came to was a set-up for Dead Sea Salts. These lotions and other scrubs or some junk like that are supposed to be the best thing for your skin, so good in fact that they bring them all the way from the Dead Sea to Round Rock Texas to be sold. Can you even believe that? Anyway, the gentleman working at the kiosk turned to my mother (who is not that old mind you) and asked 'Can I ask you a question?' Based on his tone, we presumed the man was going to ask us where we found our fabulous sunglasses or something of the nature so of course, my mom said 'Sure!' Well, sunglasses were not his concern. This weirdo turned to my mom and said 'Are you ok walking around with your skin looking like that?' ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What in the world just happened? Did he just insult my mom in hopes of selling something? Do people actually buy into this garbage?
Morbidly offended we stared at each other and decided to move on. Unfortunately for us, this would not be our last encounter with this team of salespeople that apparently failed sales 101 at the local community college. Next up, hair central. . .
Me being a girl with somewhat longer locks, my hair does tend to be picked on by any salesperson with a remedy to all the ailments that could afflict such a coif (dry hair, straight hair, curly hair, blue hair, whatever). This trip was no exception. As we approached the second kiosk, I could see I was the new target - mom for the skin, Carlee for the hair. Here we go again.
The girl in the second kiosk wasted no time farting around the issue - she went straight for the heart. 'You straighten your hair? I have something to show you. . ' 'Not interested,' I said in my most polite, leave-me-alone voice. 'You probably have a cheap straightener. That's why you are burning your hair!' Then, it happened. . . she touched it. Mall Worker 366 (maybe that was her employee number, I don't really know) touched my hair. Did I ask her to? Nope. Did I hope she would? Double nope. Piece of advice: DON'T TOUCH ME. . . especially right after you insult me thanks! I WILL freak out. (Side note: if you know me, don't be afraid. We've probably already broken that touching plane and I will not freak out. If you are a total stranger who loves to insult their customers, hands off!)
Needless to say this encounter did not end well. I proceeded to tell the salesperson that I basically thought she should do a bit more research before she went around insulting me. I might have hit her or something but you can't risk being thrown in a Texas jail. . . not in this lifetime.
Question to the public: Did I just miss the day that made this a great sales tool? I can see the chapter now: 'Insult your customers, get results.' What's happening here? Sales tactic or hate crime?