The National Zoo might finally be coming around to it — “Tai Shan” just isn’t sticking. In an email to DCist, a reader tipped us off to the following:

Yesterday I received the latest edition of Zoogoer, the magazine for members of Friends of the National Zoo. On the back, there is an advertisement for the upcoming ZooFari benefit, the theme of which is “Black and White Night.” Of course there is an adorable photo of a certain baby panda. The tagline? “Everything goes better with Butter.” Yes, the National Zoo acknowledged in one of its print publications that everyone refers to Tai Shan as Butterstick. (I believe the copy says Tai Shan is “affectionately known as Butterstick.”)

We know it’s tradition that a panda’s name mean something serene and folksy in Chinese, but we’re just not buying it. And anyhow, the merchandising possibilities expand exponentially if they officially call him Butterstick. “Everything goes better with Butter”? That’s gold, pure marketing gold!