From regret to reach: Lakmé, Volkswagen, and the business of saying sorry
No one likes to apologise in public, but everyone loves to watch public figures forced to say sorry online. Brands seem to be cashing in on our collective schadenfreude.
Mumbai: There is nothing more humbling than having to say you’re sorry. And nothing more enjoyable than watching a famous personality apologize in public.
Social media is awash with apologies—some tearful, some sincere, several cringey ones and a handful of non-apologies, too. But as a marketer, it is tricky to engineer the right kind of apology when your brand makes a mistake, or worse, when you’re forced to apologize for hurting the feelings of some folks.
Lately, brands have resisted apologizing when they face calls for boycott, especially over religious or other sentimental issues; instead, they wait for the storm to blow over and quietly pull the offending campaign.
So, imagine our surprise at seeing a wave of public apologies suddenly popping up across verified accounts of large brands—from neo-bank Jupiter and milkshake brand Keventers to music label T-Series, Dabur’s Chyawanprash, Lakmé, Fujifilm and even Volkswagen.
Why is everyone suddenly apologizing?
Turns out, the ‘apology ad’ is the latest trend, with everyone from local eateries to national consumer brands jumping on in recent days.
The logic is simple: attention is scarce and ads are usually skipped, but everyone loves a good controversy and a public apology by a brand is a good way to grab headlines. The brand says sorry, apologizing, ironically, for doing its job too well and keeping its customers happy.
The apology is also a more text-heavy ad format—a rarity these days—allowing for a well-written copy to finally get a chance to shine. And for brands that are focused on young consumers, this ad format is the easiest way to nail that tongue-in-cheek tone that’s hard to pull off in video.
Last year, apparel e-commerce platform Ajio ran an ‘unconditional public apology’ in the Bengaluru edition of The Times of India. Its rival Myntra ran an entire public apology video featuring actors Ranbir Kapoor and Tripti Dimri earlier this year.
Brands should tread lightly, though. For many such apology ads, the comments section is full of customers complaining about the brand and demanding an actual apology and redressal. In an apology ad run by GoMechanic, a garage and vehicle-servicing aggregator, the comments section on Instagram is flooded with complaints ranging from bad service to misleading prices for car components to even unpaid dues to the company’s vendors. In 2023, GoMechanic had admitted to cooking its books, too.
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