Nintendo Renames Super Mario Bros. Character to Avoid Racial Insensitivity.
Nintendo has renamed the foreman character "Blackie" to "Spike" in the Japanese version of the NES game Wrecking Crew and The Super Mario Bros. movie, possibly to avoid racism. The change was already made in the US and EU versions of the game due to the original Japanese name being read as a racial slur. Spike is a white foreman who attempts to stop Mario by knocking objects down.