Very real.
I was on a biz trip with JW's in 2005 and I knew they were planning to visit Bethel. I purposely didn't bring a skirt so I could bow out and do some shopping/sightseeing without them. Nooooo. They called and got me a special pass so I could wear pants on the tour and eat in the dining room. (Now that I think about it, I even posed with the group with Carey Barber in his little motorized wheelchair. **sigh**) I think they thought this little trip might be the thing to bring me back.
On another note. We were waiting in the lobby and a poor sister IN A SKIRT was washing the various windows in the entry doors, including the exterior ones. She was STRUGGLING to keep her modesty while bending down to clean the lower portions of the windows. And this was on a snowy day in February.
These guys are absolutely NUTS. Run...run away fast!!!