Since 1985, Colgate-Palmolive has co-owned a Hong Kong firm with a line of products that includes Darlie toothpaste. Once known as Darkie, the toothpaste’s logo was reportedly inspired by famed minstrel performer Al Jolson who entertained in blackface. Evidently, the head of the firm caught a Jolson performance in the 1930s and decided that the entertainer’s look—coal-black skin, which accentuated the whiteness of his teeth—should be marketed to sell toothpaste in China. Today, the product sells under the name Black People Toothpaste in Chinese and features a logo of a black man with a smile on his face and a top hat on his head. That’s right. In 2010, outdated, racist images of blacks are being used to sell toothpaste abroad.

While the Chinese may be unaware of American racial politics and, thus, why the name Black People Toothpaste is offensive, Colgate-Palmolive does know better. It’s a U.S.-based company that first heard complaints about the product in the 1980s. Public outcry led to the changing of the toothpaste’s name from Darkie to Darlie and the lightening of the skin of the black man on the logo, but that’s not enough. In its current form, the toothpaste still fuels the idea that blacks are cartoon-like rather than full-fledged human beings. Accordingly, the name of the product should be changed in Chinese and the stereotypical logo needs major revamping.