Black owned business The Honey Pot ambushed with racist reviews because of Target commercial

Bea Dixon started The Honey Pot Co because she wasn't feeling well, suffering from bacterial vaginosis for months

Bea Dixon (Credit: Target screenshot)

A Black woman had her Honey Pot products sold in Target to help empower her community — but no good deed goes unpunished. Some white women took offense and began to trash her business.

Bea Dixon started The Honey Pot Co because she wasn’t feeling well, suffering from bacterial vaginosis for months. She shared that an ancestor visited her in a dream and gave vision to what would heal her.

Thus, a plant-based feminine care system went on the market in 2014 made with herbs, botanicals, and antioxidants. The Honey Pot would help heal other women.

READ MORE: Erika James becomes first woman and African American named dean of Penn’s Wharton school

Dixon appeared in a commercial for Target and recounted how it wasn’t easy to start this business but the retail giant took a chance on her. The company allowed for The Honey Pot to be in all of its stores. They helped with the product line and packaging forever changing Dixon’s life.

“The reason why it’s so important for honey Pot to do well 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,” she said in the commercial.

Her words, inspirational to Black women, triggered others. White women began to flood her review page and leave negative comments and a 1-star rating.

READ MORE: Dr. Jackie Walters wants every woman to embrace the power of the ‘V’ with her new book

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 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,” one reviewer wrote.

The comment ended with “GetWokeGetBroke” and many more similar messages were left.

“Racist company. Black fragility on full display,” blasted another.

READ MORE: Ramona Hood appointed first Black woman FedEx CEO

Social media quickly came to the defense of Dixon and The Honey Pot. A campaign was started to give the company a 5-star rating.

“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,” encouraged one user.

“Now white women are mad and have been leaving them a low rating. Please give them 5 stars.”

Others brought up that intersectionality was never the backbone of feminism. The backlash against The Honey Pot was another glaring example.

PSA: this whole Honey Pot issue is just another example (reminder) to black women that the original feminist movement was NOT created with us in mind. While we always try to talk about “womens” issues, other women are standing on our heads. smh — Tarrita Spicer (@SpicerTarrita) March 2, 2020

“PSA: this whole Honey Pot issue is just another example (reminder) to black women that the original feminist movement was NOT created with us in mind. While we always try to talk about “womens” issues, other women are standing on our heads. Smh,” one wrote.

The Honey Pot acknowledged all of the support and retweeted some positive messages, especially those that stressed representation and Black business.