Localisation Faux Pas (Archive)

When selling its products in France, Colgate-Palmolive had to discard "Cue" as the name for one of its brands of toothpaste. The name positively insulted consumers, since "Cue" is the name of a widely circulated French pornographic magazine. 

This company had similar problems in the 1980s, with the "Darkie" brand of toothpaste. This brand was a strong market leader in various Asian countries, so Colgate decided to acquire an interest in the Hong Kong company which owned the brand. Unfortunately, the "Darkie" trademark, which gave the brand's packaging a prominent identity, was a black man with shining white teeth. While not distasteful to Asians, sections of American society, including some of Colgate's shareholders, found this racist. As a result, the brand name was changed to "Darlie".