Amazon Gave ‘Black-Owned’ Small Business Badges To Non-Black Companies, New Report Shows

What was supposed to be a show of solidarity was actually co-opted and now a new report is exposing it.

Online platform The Information released data that stated Amazon gave “small business” and “Black-owned business” badges to companies that were actually the opposite of both.

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The rollout of the Small Business badge allocation was in alignment with Amazon’s efforts to heighten trust and bolster “merchant-friendliness.” According to the report, Amazon was confronted by the outlet about the mislabeling, to which they removed some badges from certain sellers but not all.

“We are committed to ensuring that the badge is a helpful shopping tool for customers to discover small business brand owners and we are continuously auditing and refining the information used to award the badge to ensure a trustworthy and accurate experience,” an Amazon spokesperson said according to the report.

The report stated that the “small business badge” is was technically intended for US companies that employ less than 100 workers and no more than $50 million in yearly revenue. But somehow, companies like Black Rifle Coffee Co. were able to obtain a even after generating more than $300 million in revenue last year. Then, businesses like Chomps, a jerky seller, got the Black-owned business badge despite neither of its owners being of Black descent.

“If they’re not managing this program, they’re being negligent and they’re disadvantaging true small businesses,” Jason Boyce, the CEO of Avenue7Media, said in an interview with Business Insider.

In an interview Stacey Mitchell, a co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance said: “It’s very much in Amazon’s interest to try to suggest that in fact they’re supporting small businesses rather than eating their lunch,”