Colgate reviews Chinese toothpaste brand Darlie amid US racism debate

Colgate-Palmolive on Thursday said it was working to review and evolve its Chinese toothpaste brand, Darlie, the latest in a string of brand reassessments amid a US debate on racism and racial inequality.

Darlie is a Chinese brand owned by Colgate-Palmolive and its joint venture partner Hawley & Hazel.

“For more than 35 years, we have been working together to evolve the brand, including substantial changes to the name, logo and packaging,” a Colgate-Palmolive spokesman told Reuters in an email.

“We are currently working with our partner to review and further evolve all aspects of the brand, including the brand name,” he added.

Darlie is one of Asia’s bestselling toothpaste brands. Its package features a smiling man in a top hat.

It was originally called Darkie, with the logo being a grinning blackface minstrel.

The name was changed in 1989 after Reuben Mark, then-CEO of Colgate, acknowledged the brand was racist.

Darlie’s name in Chinese translates to “black person toothpaste”.

Colgate-Palmolive’s move comes as other US companies deliberate measures to rebrand products that depict racial stereotypes amid protests over George Floyd’s killing.

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On Wednesday, PepsiCo said it would change the name and brand image of its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup, which have been criticised.

The more than 130-year-old brand logo features an African-American woman named after a character in 19th-century minstrel shows and is rooted in a stereotype of a friendly black woman working as a servant or nanny for a white family.

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Following Pepsico’s move, the makers of Uncle Ben’s rice, owned by Mars Inc; Mrs Butterworth’s syrup, owned by ConAgra Brands; and Cream of Wheat porridge, owned by B&G Foods; also said they would review their packaging.

The moves are part of Corporate America’s reckoning with the treatment of Black Americans amid weeks of protests over racism and police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The Aunt Jemima brand had been called out in recent days on social media.

A TikTok video called “How To Make A Non Racist Breakfast” by user @singkirbysing, in which a woman pours the pancake mix down the sink, has received 175,000 views on Instagram since being posted on Tuesday.

“We recognise Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype,” Kristin Kroepfl, vice-president and chief marketing officer of PepsiCo-owned Quaker Foods North America, said in a statement.

Quaker did not announce a brand name or logo, but said packages without the Aunt Jemima image would appear in the fourth quarter of this year.

ConAgra said its packaging, meant to evoke a “loving grandmother”, could be interpreted “in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values” and that it has “begun a complete brand and packaging review on Mrs. Butterworth’s”.

Mars said it had “a responsibility to take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustices” and that “one way we can do this is by evolving the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity”.

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“We don’t yet know what the exact changes or timing will be, but we are evaluating all possibilities,” a spokeswoman said about the brand, known for its white-haired African-American man named after a Texas rice farmer.

B&G Foods said it was initiating an immediate review of its Cream of Wheat Brand, which features a black man in a chef’s hat.

Some observers lauded the moves, but said they were slow to come.

“Brands built on racist imagery have been living on borrowed time,” said James O’Rourke, management professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

“This move by Quaker Oats, while welcome, is decades late in coming.”

PepsiCo on Tuesday announced a set of initiatives worth more than US$400 million (S$560 million) over five years to support black communities and boost black representation at PepsiCo.