The Far East: A Sort of Tribute

From Manila to Bangkok these days, anyone who needs a tube of toothpaste has his choice of a baker's dozen of red-and-white packaged brands with remarkably similar names: Coalgate, Goalgate, Goldkey, Goldcat and Goldrat. The fact that all these ring like the name of the world's bestselling toothpaste—Colgate—is no coincidence. With the indulgent tolerance of Asian governments, most notably in Formosa, hustling commercial pirates are cashing in all over the Far East by duplicating U.S. consumer products—at least on the outside.

The look-alike brands, which usually sell for less than half the price of the U.S. original, cover a wide spectrum....

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