Black business owner Beatrice Dixon black-shamed

When Beatrice Dixon, founder of The Honey Pot Company, filmed a commercial for Target, she had no idea that so many white women would object to her message of encouragement to black women. Beatrice’s takeaway message from her spot in the commercial is that “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 can have a better opportunity.”

Twitter lit up, with many women calling the message “racist” because (as they said) it wasn’t inclusive of all women; instead, its message was targeted to empower only “Black” girls. Other Twitter voices were quick to come out in support of Dixon, and Dixon’s sales actually increased as a result of the backlash against her message.

In an interview with Essence, Dixon said that it was Target who chose to film and air the commercial as part of its “Founders We Believe In” series. Target selected the commercial to air during Black History Month and issued a statement to NBC News saying (in part), “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.”