Hawley and Hazel marketed Darkie toothpaste as a parody of an American minstrel performer, Al Jolson, who became popular for his blackface performances. The whiteness of his teeth inspired the brand name and logo. Darky, or darkie, is a derogatory term used primarily in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada, referring to black people. The packaging featured an image of a wide-eyed, white man in blackface, wearing a top hat, monocle and bow-tie, an image associated with minstrel shows., the comedian who inspired the logo design In 1985, after Colgate-Palmolive acquired 50% of Hawley & Hazel, great controversy erupted over the brand in the United States, to which Colgate-Palmolive CEO Ruben Mark responded by issuing an apology and replacing the English name of the toothpaste to "Darlie" in 1989, and altering the image on the packaging to show a racially ambiguous face in a top hat to avoid racial misunderstanding. However, the Chinese name of the brand, "黑人牙膏", remains the same and a Chinese-language advertising campaign reassured customers that "Black Person Toothpaste is still Black Person Toothpaste". After the entry of Colgate-Palmolive, the brand continued to be sold in several Asian countries, including Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand where its brand and logo were not considered offensive. Colgate-Palmolive announced the brand would not be sold outside of Asia. The brand experienced an increase of both popularity and notoriety in 2004, after the toothpaste, along with other allegedly racist brands, was featured in the mockumentary . It was depicted as a fictional brand that is popular in the alternative history of the film; the final credits reveal that it, along with most of the other brands, is a genuine product. On June 19, 2020, Colgate-Palmolive announced it will work with Hawley & Hazel to "review and further evolve all aspects" of the Darlie brand, including the brand name. At the time of the announcement, the Chinese name of Darlie still continues to be "黑人牙膏". The announcement followed similar announcements made by PepsiCo/Quaker Oats and Mars, Incorporated for their respective brands.
The original flavor of Darlie was mint. Other flavors are available for children. , the toothpaste held a 75% market share in Taiwan, 50% in Singapore, 30% in Malaysia and Hong Kong and 20% in Thailand.Nowadays it is one of the bestselling toothpaste brands in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, with between 10 to 30 percent market share.
