I thought I saw diagrams of the obscenely shaped tow hook/ball with an even more comically obscene illustration of how to use it. Will try to find it if possible. It was making the rounds about a month or so ago.
That tow "hook" profile is so common in the EU that they do not see what we see. I guess the problem is we in North America are still too puritanical and hence have developed a viable alternative.
If there is any good news, the North American two inch receiver is making some inroads on the Continent and in Australia.
The two inch receiver really is an innovation that still allows all the ugly or whatever to be inserted. I suppose if there is a problem, it is that the receiver size is nominal SAE rather than Metric, but that should not be a showstopper.