The Case of The Honey Pot

Most of us are familiar with the popular children’s character Winnie the Pooh and how he loved his pot of honey. He would do anything to get to the honey pot.

In the case of The Honey Pot company, the bees’ nest has been poked. The hive has been disturbed and the bees are pissed off. If you’re unfamiliar with The Honey Pot and the recent furor surrounding one of the company's products, here is a recap: The Honey Pot is a Black-owned and founded company that provides a variety of natural feminine hygiene products sold in retail stores such as Target. The company and its founder gained a fiercely loyal following and support grew based on touting the fact that her products did not contain any potentially harmful additives and/or artificial ingredients. Recently, a random post appeared on Twitter made by a Honey Pot customer announcing the fact that the company’s ingredients have changed and that the company had been sold and was no longer Black-owned. The coup-de-gras was that the tweet also included a side-by-side photo comparison of the company’s very popular feminine wash—one purchased months ago and one recently purchased. The photo clearly showed that the list of ingredients had indeed changed. Reactions to the post were swift and negative. As a public relations professional, it has been interesting to watch how this situation has quickly spiraled out of control. Initially, the company’s owner was MIA and there was no response or statement from the company. Over the ensuing days, the backlash increased. Unfortunately, crisis communications is mostly viewed as something companies only need when the shit hits the fan. This approach is known as being reactive instead of proactive. Here’s why. The company knew that they were planning to change the product’s ingredients. The company should have known its many loyal customers would notice and have a visceral reaction to the change. Instead, the company quietly made the change to the product and now customers have accused The Honey Pot of being sneaky for not announcing that the ingredients in their popular feminine wash have changed. The Honey Pot’s public relations strategy should have included getting ahead of any possible negative reaction to the reformulation of their product. A good strategy includes distributing facts and including reasons for the reformulation. Talk to your loyal customers. Instead, it appears The Honey Pot is in full crisis mode. Customers are announcing that they no longer trust the company and would stop supporting and buying Honey Pot products. If this does happen, this will be a tremendous loss for a company that has experienced substantial growth over the years. The Honey Pot founder finally released a video offering an explanation of the situation in an attempt to squash rumors. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had a public relations person who was available to provide a clear strategy. The video was unpolished and appeared as if she was speaking off the cuff which is never a good idea when it comes to crisis communications. In a videotaped response posted to IG, Honey Pot Founder & CEO, Beatrix Dixon, said: “Please accept our apology for not communicating all of this better and I please ask that you please believe me when I say I would never make harmful products and support people using them. I would not be able to live with myself. I use these products twice a day, my family uses these products, my nieces use these products, and most importantly you use these products. I am making these products for all of us. This entire faux pas will eventually settle down and folks will move on to the next big thing, but the damage has already been done. The question remains as to whether or not The Honey Pot will emerge from this situation in a manner that allows it to regain the confidence of its customers. Only time will tell.