Ever Heard Darkie?

Have you ever used Darkie to brush your teeth? Some of you might never heard of that brand because the name was already changed to Darlie when you're born. As I read in Wikipedia, the name was officially changed from Darkie to Darlie in 1985. In 1985 I was 2 years old but I really feels like I did use Darkie as late as 1988 when I was old enough to understand and remember lots of things. I could still remember some portion of the tv commercial about the name change.

Darlie/Darkie was originated from Taiwan and very popular in Asian countries. The name Darkie was used perhaps to reflect the nice teeth of black people. The name was changed to Darlie to avoid being a racist brand and to have good market in English-speaking market.

In Malay language the word Darkie sound as same as "daki" that means the body stain caused by dirt and sweat. In my hometown and maybe anywhere in Malaysia, people make jokes to kids that the toothpaste contain "daki" and sales of the toothpaste get better after the name change.