- The black-owned, feminine care company The Honey Pot Company was attacked by online trolls earlier this week after its founder appeared in a Target commercial and said she hopes her company does well "so the next Black girl that comes up with a great idea could have a better opportunity."
- Many, taking issue with the fact that Honey Pot founder Beatrice Dixon specifically mentioned "black girls," began flooding The Honey Pot's portal Trustpilot with negative reviews. There is no evidence these reviewers actually bought or tried the product.
- Quickly, Twitter caught wind of this, and immediately began defending Dixon against the online trolls. As a result of all of the support, Dixon told BuzzFeed News that her company's sales shot up 30% afterward.
- In a statement to Business Insider, Target said it was "proud" to work with Dixon and her company, and was "aware" of the negative comments directed toward the commercial.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Black-owned feminine hygiene brand The Honey Pot Company found itself in a controversy in February and March, set off by a Target commercial in which its founder, Beatrice Dixon, said it was important for her company to do well "so the next Black girl that comes up with a great idea could have a better opportunity."
The commercial, released on February 4, was for both Black History Month and Women's History Month and was part of the Target ad series, "Founders We Believe In." The commercial staring Dixon was supposed to highlight and promote black female entrepreneurs, but some found the ad to be "racist" and began to leave 1-star reviews of her product online.
Dixon specifically mentioned "black girls" in the commercial, and many negative reviews claimed that Dixon was saying her product was only for black people, rather than for non-black people - specifically, white people.
"I can't support a company in good faith that is openly racist about their customers," one customer said.
"Apparently doesn't work on white skin," another wrote, adding, "I wish my white daughters could use their products."
"Black girls are empowered using this product ... I guess whites girls aren't. I'll be letting Target know about this racist company," said another review.
Twitter quickly caught wind of the negative reviews, and the controversy went viral, propelling both Dixon and her company into the national spotlight. Many of the users who came to her defense said they planned on buying her products, while others slammed the trolls who attacked Dixon in the first place.
Speaking with BuzzFeed News' Tasneem Nashrulla, Dixon revealed that this controversy has actually boosted her company's sales by 20% to 30% across its retailers since the ad first aired in early February, while one day's sales in early March were up as much as 50% after a flood of negative reviews, and the counter-response. In addition, she said, most of the 1-star reviews on her website are now people complimenting the brand, and trying to flood out the negative reviews.
"I think we're human and race shouldn't even be a conversation."
Dixon told Essence magazine's Jasmine Grant that it was not her intention to come across as "racist." Rather, she said, she just wanted little black girls to know they can succeed as business owners. She also admitted that she "wasn't necessarily blinded" by the negative response to her commercial, but that she also "didn't have an expectation."
"That comment wasn't about us being a Black-owned business and only selling to Black customers," Dixon told Essence. "I think we're human and race shouldn't even be a conversation, but it is because of the society we live in. We understand the responsibility as a Black-owned business that we have to be successful because if we're not, we're not doing anything for the culture to move it forward so that [race] isn't a topic."
Black-owned business and black women entrepreneurs often have to overcome more obstacles than their non-black and non-female counterparts. A 2018 Project Diane study found that since 2009, only 0.0006% of $424.7 billion in tech venture capital had gone to black women, despite the fact that black women are one of the fastest-growing groups of business owners.
"Target has a longstanding commitment to empowering and investing in diverse suppliers that create a broad variety of products for our guests," a Target spokesperson told Business Insider. "We're proud to work with Bea Dixon and The Honey Pot team to highlight Bea's journey to build her brand and bring her products to Target. We're aware of some negative comments about the campaign, which aren't in line with the overwhelmingly positive feedback we've received from guests who love and have been inspired by Bea's story."
Meanwhile, Dixon told Essence that if given the opportunity to share her sentiments again, she would say the exact same thing. "I'd still say it again,"she told the publication."Until the disparity isn't a disparity, it has to be talked about. I don't necessarily expect the people making the [negative] comments to know that."
The Honey Pot Company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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