A black business owner whose company was flooded with racist reviews after being featured in a Target ad said she's grateful for the controversy and the growth it offered her company.
Beatrice Dixon, who started The Honey Pot Company in 2012, told Essence on Tuesday that she's not upset after dozens of racist reviews were posted about her feminine hygiene products. The negative reviews were posted Monday in response to Dixon's comments in a Target ad where she said she hoped her success could pave the way for black girls.
"It's all good," Dixon said.
The businesswoman was featured in a Target commercial called "Founders We Believe In: The Honey Pot," where she spoke about how difficult it was for her to start her line of feminine hygiene products and how she wanted to pave the way so the next black girl with a good idea could have it easier.
A number of people Monday posted on consumer review website Trustpilot accusing Dixon, and Target, of discriminating against white people in the commercial. The website suspended posts for The Honey Pot Company's page and launched an investigation.
Dixon told Essence that the incident has benefitted the company's growth and that the outpouring of support was incredible.
"I’m thankful for it because it kind of shows the reality we live," Dixon said. "You know, nothing about what I said was bad. Could I have said something different? Surely I could have. But if I had to go back, I still wouldn’t choose differently."
Less than 1 percent of American venture capital-backed founders are black-owned businesses, according to a report from Forbes. What happened with The Honey Pot Company has helped open up a conversation about the lack of investment in black women-owned businesses, Dixon told Essence.
"It's unfortunate that the facts are the facts, the statistics are the statistics, and until that changes, we need to be having these types of conversations," Dixon said. "And we need to be having businesses that are getting to the metrics that we have to get to so that this isn’t even a conversation."
Following the racist reviews of Dixon's business, a number of her supporters rushed to purchase the company's products in solidarity. Some commenters on NBC News' previous story, as well as social media users on Twitter, noted that their local Targets were sold out of The Honey Pot Company.
Target did not respond to a request for information on The Honey Pot Company's sales from NBC News on Tuesday. A number of the products did appear to be out of stock at various stores in the New York City-area based on Target's website.
