If that is effective or not, who knows, but I believe that we see this happen in the work place. Authority and roles can be established immediately. Also think of the conformity discussed in the experiment. This type of practice facilitates what the experiment is proved. Employees are brought in and trained in order to promote the system.
Many work places require people to dress the same and follow procedure.
I wore ridiculous clothing and I could tell you in a heart beat how many pickles went on the double cheeseburger. I was trained in less than a day and performed labor at a minimum wage. Before we move on and lest we forget the Zimbardo experience, I wondered what other people's reaction to the experiment was. I would almost have expected rage on the part of the prisoner or remorse from the guard, maybe a bit of tension but none seemed present. This guard had been especially cruel, even running his own little experiments to see how far he could push people before they'd object and they never did.