Bad Characters

Toyota announced in June 2004 that it was updating the Chinese pinyin of the name of its luxury model Lexus from the well-known Ling-Zhi to the new Lei-Ke-Sa-Si. Many wondered why.

The new name Lei-Ke-Sa-Si, on the other hand, hints at no nobility, speed, or luxury. Instead it shares two characters with Ke-Lai-Si-Le, Chrysler’s Chinese name. Chrysler is positioned lower than Lexus, in the near-luxury category. If someone tries to be funny, Lei-Ke-Sa-Si can mean “thunder overcomes SARS” since, literally, Lei is thunder, Ke is to overcome, and Sa-Si sound like SARS. Why would Toyota choose such a name for Lexus?

http://goodcharacters.com/newsletters/thunder.overcomes.sars.html