I expect much better from Nissan

Remember when Nissan was a real innovator? When their TV ads for cars like the 350ZX and Maxima made your pulse quicken? When their launch of the new jelly bean-shaped Altima back in the mid-nineties was the envy of the industry? Well if you do, this will make you quite nauseous indeed.

As reported in the NY Times 4/5/09, with the auto industry on its ass, Nissan's apparent solution to excite the young car buying public is a new box called the Cube. I refer to this car as a new box because it has been, no doubt, inspired by Scion's original box, the xB. Back to the Cube, the marketing geniuses At Nissan have chosen to forego the "car" label and call it a "mobile device." Borrowing all kinds of terms from Web 2.0 - type technology, the folks at Nissan have apparently lost track of the simple fact this is a car. I seriously doubt if anyone will want to risk attaining "dork of the year" status by actually referring to the thing as a "mobile device." Can you imagine any self-respecting, iPod-toting twenty-something saying, "come on gang, let's all pile into my mobile device!" Okay, maybe George, our IT guy, but he's actually just a myth, and therefore will not be purchasing a car anytime soon.

Sorry Nissan, you're just playing catch up ball here, and all that Web 2.0, "let's appeal to the young folks" gimmickry  is not going to sell a single box - sorry, Cube!

What marketing sins have Nissan committed here? Borrowing technology terms to advertise a car and a shocking lack of originality in the name of the thing are just the beginning. And have you noticed what this thing looks like? What dorks.