The original “Darkie” toothpaste packaging on the left was changed to the current “Darlie” toothpaste on the right in 1985. I can’t imagine why they would change it, but I’m guessing the green just looks nicer. The Chinese name remains the same: “Black Person Toothpaste.”
The Wikipedia page has a little more information for those who are interested.
I use Darlie toothpaste from time to time. My favorite racist product I saw here in Thailand about three years ago was “Black Man brand Mops.” I almost bought it just because I was so astonished by it. I don’t think they have them anymore though. I think these products are racist according to Western standards, but we are all just so sensitive over there in the West. Asia goes by it’s own standards and things like that aren’t considered racist here.
Lawrence Michaels recently contributed to world literature by posting..Dangers of Phuket Beaches
You’re right, there’s definitely no racist intent behind these products–few people in Asia would even understand why they might be considered offensive in the west.
I haven’t seen the “Black Man Mops”, but then again, I’ve never lived in Thailand and you don’t generally go shopping for things like that as a tourist. I just did a quick search and found that there’s actually a whole line of “Black Man” cleaning products.
Daniel recently contributed to world literature by posting..Holy Cows in Goa
Whoa! I am totally using that toothpaste right now! I did notice the charming man with a top hat, but I didn’t even pause to read the Thai…
Susan recently contributed to world literature by posting..Making Peace with Bangkok
In the USA, Darlie Toothpaste is available in some ethnic stores in Honolulu’s Chinatown; I noticed tubes of it being sold there during a recent trip there. I remember being made of Darlie for the first time while visiting Hong Kong a few years back. While in Hong Kong, I never quite figured out what the black man with top hat logo had to do with toothpaste, but said logo was seen everywhere throughout Hong Kong, with Darlie being advertised on HK’s city buses, its subways, and end cap displays of this toothpaste being sold in the ubiquitous Manning’s, as well as Watson’s, drug stores throughout HK. The Wikipedia page linked above set me straight about Darlie.
When I was a kid living in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the 70s this toothpaste was advertised on TV. And the black man was obvious, with a 20s-styles caricature with white gloves on and shoes (tapdancing, if I recall). Even at that time when I was a kid and even Americans were less politically correct, I found it to be a mixture of hilarious and shocking. The commercial was pretty funny. But it definitiely seemed racist.
The toothpaste was very popular.
I can’t believe it didn’t even cross my mind that there would probably be commercials for this product. I would love to see one and I would especially love to see one from the seventies–that sound absolutely hilarious (and absolutely racist).
The toothpaste seems to still be pretty popular today–I saw it a lot in several Asian countries, but especially in Thailand.
Daniel McBane recently contributed to world literature by posting..Winter Photos of Berlin and the Hell I Endured to Get Them