Black women banded together and rallied behind The Honey Pot CEO Bea Dixon after dozens of websites were flooded with negative reviews from white people criticizing the brand's Black empowerment advertisements.
During the Super Bowl and throughout Black History Month, Target aired two ads featuring Dixon speaking about her feminine care company and how difficult it was for her to get her business off the ground as a Black woman. The shopping retailer touted Dixon for her work with The Honey Pot and lauded her for inspiring the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs.
In the ad, Dixon talks about how she hopes her work will help other Black women and girls get their businesses off the ground.
“The reason why it’s so important for Honey Pot to do well is so that the next Black girl that comes up with a great idea, she can have a better opportunity. That means a lot to me,” Dixon said.
Her seemingly innocuous remarks set off a wave of fury for a number of white people who flooded consumer sites like Trustpilot to bash Dixon, claiming she was racist for talking about Black girls.
"I was an avid fan and enthusiastic user of HoneyPot products. But recent marketing efforts with Target have highlighted a racially motivated component to the company that I am not only uncomfortable with, but outright disagree with. Please use a little bit of common decency, courtesy, and tact; decouple your racial/political activism from your retail business. I guess I'm grateful for Target giving me some insight into the off-putting race politics of HoneyPot. That being said, I'm no longer buying these products," wrote Karlyle Dean.
White people whining about Honey Pot hair company making a commercial supporting black women specifically is hilarious. Y’all won’t shop @ target for allowing this but y’all favorite brands favor y’all people and it’s fine. Insanity ???? pic.twitter.com/95j21EeeaZ
— Thank Me Later (@goodlookinlee_) March 2, 2020
One review was a white man, he admitted. He went on to whine about feeling like white men are the most discriminated against—he was projecting his personal feelings about his privilege bothering his conscience—on a page for products women use for their vaginas.
— Brow Legend (@Xrizztina) March 2, 2020
Black women began to highlight the trend on social media and urged others to write good reviews for the company to balance out the deluge of racist hate Dixon and the company were receiving.
Honey Pot, a black woman owned natural hair care line that’s sold in Target, had a commercial where they said they want to empower black girls.
Now white women are mad and have been leaving them a low rating.
Please give them 5 stars https://t.co/FABhpr4ZkH
— I’m 10 Years Older Than Mark (@eleven8) March 2, 2020
I just looked at the honey pot reviews and my goodness. These people are mad and have no one to tell them. pic.twitter.com/SGlAjWzuLj
— . (@momoXmojo) 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 @thehoneypotcomp forever a consumer! ????✨ pic.twitter.com/ssMGNSLhGl
— Tara, THG♡ (@TheHealthGworl) March 2, 2020
Been using Honey Pot with no problems for the last couple of months and that’s crazy.
Even if it didn’t work out for you the fact that people are leaving bad reviews just because a commercial said she wants to empower black women is pic.twitter.com/HwIDxHO9ru
— Nefer Phoenix ???????? ???? (@TheHoodBotanica) 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 (@EricaJoy) March 2, 2020
I actually DO like Honey Pot Co. products and have zero time for hating white women sooo… ????????♀️ https://t.co/mWtJZM3J2E
pic.twitter.com/qDLIQs8bTQ— gigi ???????? (@espressothighs) March 2, 2020
“I don’t watch TV, and I’m not really a person that’s connected to social media. I try to disconnect from that as much as possible. I saw it through a link they sent us, and I had people sending me video of it recorded on their phones. It was humbling because I didn’t necessarily understand the gravity of it. I didn’t realize it was going to be on national TV the way it’s been. It’s crazy, but really amazing,” Dixon said commenting on the advertisement in an interview with Beauty Independent.
“My competitors have raised $85 million. I can’t think of a consortium of black women that has raised $85 million. When you look at the real s**t of it, that s**t is real. I have to do well so the next black girl that goes into a room of venture capitalists with a CPG business has a chance,” Dixon added.
Comments on The Honey Pot's profile on The Trust Pilot have since been disabled due to an influx of traffic, triggering an investigation into the reviews, according to the site.