Feminine care brand The Honey Pot was targeted by racist reviews after sharing an inspiring message for young Black women in a nationwide Target commercial, prompting an outpouring of support online and a major sales boost.

The Black History Month and Women’s History Month ad spot features company founder and CEO Beatrice Dixon, who reflects on the struggles she faced founding the plant-based feminine hygiene brand.

“The reason why it’s so important for Honey Pot to do well is so the next Black girl that comes up with a great idea, she could have a better opportunity. That means a lot to me,” Dixon says at the end of the ad.

“The whole reason I started The Honey Pot Co was because I was suffering from bacterial vaginosis for months and couldn’t get relief. One night, an ancestor visited me in a dream and gifted me with a vision to heal myself,” Dixon writes on the company’s website. “With her help, I created the Honey Pot Co to solve for what other brands wouldn’t, using the power of herbs.”

On Monday, Honey Pot trended on Twitter after people noted that the brand’s profile on business review site Trustpilot was being targeted with one-star ratings.

People who were apparently offended by the ad’s empowering message for young Black entrepreneurs bemoaned the ad as “racist” and “uninclusive.” Other trolls left fake bad reviews about the product.

So white people are upset because Honey Pot, a black owned company is advertising black products to black people? The only time y’all cry about inclusiveness is when something isn’t meant for you pic.twitter.com/81NPw3ytqe — ˗ˏˋ𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆𝒂ˊˎ˗ 🕊 () March 2, 2020

A target commercial for Honey pot has yt folx so upset they’re making fake accounts, posing as unsatisfied black customers & I can’t even pretend to be shocked. pic.twitter.com/R58m94giZD — M! () March 2, 2020

Later Monday, Trustpilot suspended Honey Pot’s profile.

A message on the page said it was under temporary suspension while the platform reviewed the influx of comments.

Trustpilot’s North America director of communications, Zach Pardes, told HuffPost its team was sifting through more than 15,000 reviews that had flooded in over 24 hours, and were removing any in violation of the platform’s guidelines ― which, according to its site, includes use of hate speech or language that has a “sexist or racial character.”

“In short, yes, our investigations team is removing the reviews because they violate our guidelines (and quite honestly our company values as well),” he said.

Hundreds of Twitter users shared support for the brand, highlighting the systemic obstacles faced by Black female entrepreneurs and the need for more messages like the one in the Target commercial, praising trailblazers like The Honey Pot’s founder. The brand’s rating was at five stars on Monday.

The outpouring of positive messages saw The Honey Pot’s sales double by almost 50% on Monday, Dixon told BuzzFeed. Following the backlash, sales across the brand’s retailers have increased 20 to 30%, she said.

“I said nothing about our product being only for black girls,” Dixon noted. She also highlighted the company’s tagline: “made by humans with vaginas, for humans with vaginas.”

In an interview with Essence, Dixon drew attention to urgent need for funding to Black women-owned businesses. She highlighted the Project Diane study from Digital Undivided that found that only 0.06% of all tech venture funding issued between 2009 and 2017 had gone to Black women-led startups.

“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,” Dixon told Essence.

Read some of the commentary on Twitter below.

I created a gofundme to raise money to buy Honey Pot products and donate them to the Downtown Women's Shelter in LA. Long story short, the CEO did a target commercial and said she hoped to encourage black girls and the racists lost their collective sh-t. https://t.co/UM2TZDTyK0 — Cat Adell () March 2, 2020

I love everything about this commercial including the emphasis on helping the next black girl with her great idea-I'm officially a new loyal Honey Pot customer. Well done, and Honey Pot! https://t.co/nO3pLdu6Rk — Amee Vanderpool () March 2, 2020

THIS is the video that has racists leaving terrible reviews for Honey Pot Co, my favorite feminine care line. Please leave them a positive review if you love their products ❤️ S/o to Bea Dixon, we got you! https://t.co/D2ystI5jLJ pic.twitter.com/l49YSxzfr5 — JUSME BACK (i think 😭) () March 2, 2020

Hearing about drama. I must admit, I love the commercials. Representation matters and seeing young entrepreneurs who look like you is important and powerful. I’ll have to run to my local store tomorrow to support The Honey Pot. — Logan Levkoff, Ph.D. () March 2, 2020

On my way to order the honey pot line. pic.twitter.com/Hl60d1IaYi — CaroCrespo 💙🌊 Team Joe💙🌊 () March 2, 2020

i saw "honey pot" trending and thought it was about infosec. turns out it's just about white women being mad about a commercial wherein a black woman says she want's to blaze trails for black girls?



here's the commercial, if want to join me in my "are y'all fucking serious rn?" pic.twitter.com/pksQNbsjL1 — EricaJoy () March 2, 2020

as a white woman let me tell you ... honey pot is a superior brand. and if as a white woman their commercial was offensive to you in any way shape of form , pls go find a seat in racist corner and fucking shut up. https://t.co/i9HSNU7yiU — kenzi raye () March 2, 2020

seeing Honey Pot being slandered for being “racist” towards whites women for their mission of empowering black women. absolutely ridiculous. y’all can stay mad while I/we stay fresh & balanced. thank you forever a consumer! 🐝✨ pic.twitter.com/ssMGNSLhGl — Tara, THG♡ () March 2, 2020

Source: Huffpost.com

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