Triumph of the Shill

This is Nissan's latest triumph of the copy editor's art.

It is called the Nissan Juke, and comes complete with the usual multimedia blitz, a Wikipedia page, a Facebook home, a Twitter presence, etc.

And while I am only pretty sure that some (member or members) of their marketing department's "master race of highly gifted toddlers" (h/t "Malcolm Tucker") made enough off of this campaign to buy themselves a second home...

...I would be willing to bet the mortgage money that no one involved in making this decision had any idea that the name "Jukes" has a long and not-exactly-fashion-forward history. From Wiki:

The Jukes and the Kallikaks were pseudonyms for two families used as examples during the latter 19th century and early 20th century to argue that there was a genetic disposition toward anti-social behavior or low intelligence. The arguments were used to bolster advocacy of eugenics, or the pseudo-scientific breeding of human beings, by demonstrating that traits deemed socially inferior could be passed down from generation to generation.

As a general concept the Jukes Family represented inherited criminality and the Kallikak Family inherited mental retardation.

The Jukes family was described by Richard L. Dugdale in 1877 in The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity.
...

So....anybody want to "friend"a Juke now?

Seriously, I would have to think pretty hard to come up with three descriptions I would want associated with my brand, new automobile less than "Crime", "Pauperism" and "Disease" (well, maybe "socially inferior", "low intelligence" and "eugenics", but it would be a very close call.)

So, Nissan, before sinking several million dollars into your next big campaign for the "Catamite" or the "Slattern" how about doing something really edgy, like putting someone in charge who is vaguely aware of that vast swath of life, history, culture and literature that existed before Tosh 2.0.