Black female-run company receives hate speech and bad reviews for empowering Target advert

Beatrice Dixon has said the backlash has actually triggered a positive supportive response

A black female-owned feminine hygiene company has suffered abuse online after being featured in a Target commercial where the owner promoted the empowerment of black female entrepreneurs.

The Honey Pot Company was hit with negative reviews by users online who bizarrely branded the company racist, CNN reported.

The target commercial, which is part of a series of adverts in Target’s “founders we believe in series.”

In the advert aired in February, Founder and CEO Beatrice Dixon says, “The reason why it's so important for The Honey Pot to do well is so the next black girl that comes up with a great idea — she can have a better opportunity.”

Users took to review sharing site Trustpilot and inundated the companies review feed with one and two stars, with commenters claiming the advert was racist.

'I said nothing about our product being only for black girls,' Dixon said to BuzzFeed News.

The company offers plant-based feminine care systems for a range of different needs and include wipes, pads, and washes.

She pointed out that the company's tagline 'Made by humans with vaginas, for humans with vaginas' is wholly inclusive.

A spokesman for Trustpilot told CNN it got almost 18,000 reviews between Sunday night and Monday morning.

However, Ms Dixon has said the attention from the online backlash has actually benefited her company in a positive way.

She told CNN how customers worked to counteract the impact of the negative reviews and hike up the companies star rating from two stars to 4.9 within a day.

“It was really beautiful to see so many people supporting us, you know, and lifting us up and speaking words of encouragement,” Dixon said.

Many of the posts were blocked automatically because they contained hate speech, but the staff had to remove offensive comments that slipped through the algorithm.

As of now, users are unable to post reviews of the company on Trustpilot's website.

A Target spokesperson told the Independent: “Target has a longstanding commitment to empowering and investing in diverse suppliers that create a broad variety of products for our guests.

“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.”

Ms Dixon told CNN that she hoped the attention will relate back to her message of empowerment and catalyse change in business for women of colour.

The challenges of accessing entrepreneurial finance are often more substantial for minority women and the revenue gap between businesses owned by women of colour and those of non-minority women are widening, according to a 2018 report by American Express.

“It wasn't me being racist. It was me understanding the responsibility that we have to take as a black-owned business in America in 2020," Ms Dixon said.