Public Apologies in Business
When brands and founders get it wrong, the apology matters more than the mistake. Here's what works, what doesn't, and what the data says.
The difference between a brand that survives a crisis and one that doesn’t almost always comes down to how it apologizes. Academic research published in the Journal of Business Ethics found that matching the response to the actual level of responsibility is what determines whether an apology helps or hurts: apologizing when you are not directly responsible reduces shareholder wealth, and failing to apologize when you are responsible reduces it even more. Investors prefer “I” statements over “we” statements in CEO apologies because personal accountability signals sincerity.
The examples below are sorted by what happened afterward, because the apology itself is only worth studying in the context of its results.
Apologies That Saved the Brand
Starbucks / Philadelphia (2018)
On April 12, 2018, two Black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks for sitting without ordering. CEO Kevin Johnson called it “reprehensible,” flew to Philadelphia to meet the men personally, and on May 29 closed all 8,000 U.S. stores for an afternoon of racial bias training for 175,000 employees. Starbucks settled with both men and the speed and scale of concrete action made it one of the most cited corporate crisis responses in recent history, though a jury later awarded $25.6 million to the store manager who was fired over the incident.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident and the outcome in our store on Thursday were reprehensible. They were wrong. And for that, I personally apologize to the two gentlemen who visited our store.” — Kevin Johnson, CEO, on Good Morning America
Kim Kardashian / Kimono to Skims (2019)
Kardashian announced her shapewear line under the name “Kimono” in June 2019 and faced immediate backlash from the Japanese community, including the mayor of Kyoto. She apologized, withdrew the trademark applications, and renamed the brand Skims within weeks. The rebrand generated more press than the original launch would have, and Skims reached a $5 billion valuation by 2025. Notably, she never actually used the word “sorry.”
“When I announced the name of my shapewear line, I did so with the best intentions in mind. My brands and products are built with inclusivity and diversity at their core and after careful thought and consideration, I will be launching my Solutionwear brand under a new name. I am always listening, learning and growing — I so appreciate the passion and varied perspectives that people bring to me.” — Kim Kardashian, Instagram
Rihanna / Savage X Fenty (2020)
Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty fashion show used a song containing sacred Islamic hadith, and Muslim fans and advocacy groups condemned it. The apology was accepted relatively quickly because she had built years of goodwill through Fenty Beauty’s inclusive positioning, and Savage X Fenty continued to grow.
“I’d like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our Savage X Fenty show. I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest, yet careless mistake. We understand that we have hurt many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and I’m incredibly disheartened by this! I do not play with any kind of disrespect toward God or any religion.” — Rihanna, Instagram Stories
Reformation / CEO Racism (2020)
A former store manager alleged on Instagram that founder Yael Aflalo once said of a potential Black model: “We’re not ready for that yet.” Aflalo donated $500,000 to civil rights organizations and resigned as CEO on the same day.
“I’ve failed. When I hear Black colleagues who felt that I avoided them because of the color of their skin, I burn inside thinking about the sadness I inflicted. Unfortunately, the way we have practiced diversity in the past has been through a ‘White gaze’ that falls too close to ignorance.” — Yael Aflalo, founder, Instagram
Apologies That Made Things Worse
Netflix / Qwikster (2011)
In July 2011, Netflix announced a 60% price increase for customers who wanted both streaming and DVDs. On September 18, CEO Reed Hastings posted a blog titled “An Apology” that began “I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation,” but then used the apology to announce that the DVD service would be split into a separate company called Qwikster. The apology that introduced a worse decision than the one it was apologizing for cost Netflix 800,000 subscribers, and its stock dropped nearly 80% before the company abandoned Qwikster a month later.
“I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation. It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. In hindsight, I slid into arrogance based upon past success.” — Reed Hastings, Netflix blog
Peloton / Holiday Ad (2019)
Peloton ran a holiday ad showing a woman documenting a year of workouts on the Peloton bike her husband gave her for Christmas, and critics called it sexist and dystopian. The company never apologized. The stock dropped 15% over three days, erasing $1.6 billion in market value, and Ryan Reynolds’ Aviation Gin hired the actress from the ad for a parody commercial that turned Peloton’s crisis into someone else’s viral win.
“While we’re disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by — and grateful for — the outpouring of support we’ve received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate.” — Peloton, official statement
Lululemon / Chip Wilson (2013)
In March 2013, Lululemon recalled 17% of its black yoga pants for being see-through, costing $60 million in lost revenue. Then in November, founder Chip Wilson said on Bloomberg TV that “some women’s bodies just don’t actually work” for the pants. His apology video apologized to his employees for the fallout rather than to the customers he had insulted, which is frequently cited in PR courses as a textbook example of apologizing to the wrong audience. Wilson resigned as chairman within a month.
“I’m sad. I’m really sad. I’m sad for the repercussions of my actions. I’m sad for the people at Lululemon who I care so much about that have really had to face the brunt of my actions. I take responsibility for all that has occurred and the impact it has had on you. I’m sorry to have put you all through this.” — Chip Wilson, YouTube video addressed to employees
Dolce & Gabbana / China (2018)
D&G released ads showing an Asian woman struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks while a patronizing male voice narrated, and when screenshots emerged of co-founder Stefano Gabbana calling China “a country of shit” in direct messages, he claimed his account was hacked. Both founders later posted a 1.5-minute video apology on Weibo, but the apology failed because it followed a lie. Chinese retailers including Alibaba and JD dropped the brand, The Weeknd and G-Eazy severed partnerships, and the Brand Finance consultancy estimated a potential 20% loss of D&G’s $937 million brand value.
“We have thought long and hard with great sadness about everything that has happened and what we have caused in your country, and we are very sorry. We will never forget this experience, and it will certainly never happen again. From the bottom of our hearts, we ask for forgiveness.” — Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Weibo video (translated from Italian)
Pepsi / Kendall Jenner (2017)
Pepsi released an ad showing Kendall Jenner leaving a photo shoot to join a protest and handing a police officer a Pepsi that magically resolved the tension. Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, tweeted a photo of her father confronting police with the caption “If only Daddy would have known about the power of Pepsi.” Pepsi pulled the ad within 24 hours and then apologized to Kendall Jenner specifically, which the Washington Post headlined as “Pepsi apologizes to Kendall Jenner for decision she made and got paid for.”
“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.” — Pepsi, official statement
Jaclyn Hill / Moldy Lipsticks (2019)
Jaclyn Cosmetics launched on May 30, 2019, sold out immediately, and within days customers found hair, mold, metal shards, and black spots in the lipsticks. Hill posted a 14-minute YouTube apology, blamed cotton gloves and oxygen bubbles, halted production, and recalled the entire line. The brand never recovered. Parent company Forma Brands entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023, and Jaclyn Cosmetics closed permanently in January 2024.
“I wanna prove myself to you, and I thought I did that when I first launched, but I messed up and made a mistake, and for that, I am so sorry.” — Jaclyn Hill, YouTube
Chrissy Teigen / Cyberbullying (2021)
Courtney Stodden revealed that Teigen had sent them private messages years earlier including “I can’t wait for you to die.” Teigen apologized on Twitter calling herself “an insecure, attention seeking troll,” and was immediately cut from all marketing for Safely, the cleaning brand she had co-founded with Kris Jenner and Emma Grede just two months earlier. She published a longer apology on Medium in June 2021, but Stodden said it felt like “a public attempt to save her partnerships with Target and other brands.” Teigen formally departed Safely, sales reportedly tanked during the fallout, and several other brand partnerships were paused or dropped.
“I was an insecure, attention seeking troll. I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel.” — Chrissy Teigen, Twitter
Glossier / Workplace Racism (2020)
Former employees publishing as “Outta the Gloss” alleged anti-Blackness, transphobia, and retaliation at Glossier’s retail stores, including a customer grabbing a Black worker by the face and the company allowing a customer to call Latinx workers “illegals.” Former employees called the response performative, and Weiss eventually stepped back from the CEO role.
“This post, to start, is an apology and a public acknowledgment of the pain and discomfort these former colleagues experienced while working to build a brand they believed so deeply in upon arrival. We’re so sorry that we didn’t create a workplace in which our retail employees felt supported in the most critical ways.” — Emily Weiss, CEO, Instagram
Away Luggage / Toxic Workplace (2019)
The Verge published an investigation revealing CEO Steph Korey used Slack to publicly humiliate employees and create what reporters described as a culture of intimidation. Korey resigned on December 9, 2019, then un-resigned on January 13, 2020, returning as co-CEO and saying “bowing to pressure was a mistake,” which generated a second wave of negative coverage. She eventually left again.
“I can imagine how people felt reading those messages; I was appalled and embarrassed reading them myself. I’m not proud of my behavior in those moments, and I’m sincerely sorry for what I said and how I said it. It was wrong, plain and simple.” — Steph Korey, CEO, public statement
The Numbers
| Company | Year | Financial Impact | Recovery Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix Qwikster | 2011 | Stock dropped 80% | ~3 years |
| Peloton holiday ad | 2019 | $1.6B market cap lost | Never (other issues compounded) |
| D&G China | 2018 | ~20% brand value lost | Still rebuilding years later |
| Starbucks Philadelphia | 2018 | 8,000 stores closed for a day | Weeks |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do public apologies actually work?
It depends entirely on what follows them. Research shows that apologies paired with concrete action (Starbucks closing 8,000 stores, Skims renaming and relaunching) restore trust, while apologies that consist only of words (“We missed the mark,” “We are disappointed in how some have misinterpreted”) are consistently seen as insufficient or actively make things worse.
What makes a bad apology?
The pattern is remarkably consistent across industries and decades. Blaming the audience (Peloton’s “misinterpreted”), apologizing to the wrong people (Lululemon’s Wilson apologizing to employees instead of customers), lying before the apology (D&G’s “hacked account” claim), and using the apology to announce something even worse (Netflix’s Qwikster) all made their respective crises significantly more damaging than the original incident.
Can a brand survive without apologizing?
Some luxury brands have weathered controversies with minimal apologies because their customer base has fewer alternatives and higher brand loyalty. Mass-market brands and startups have far less cushion, and Jaclyn Cosmetics is the clearest example of what happens when a product failure is severe enough that no apology can fix it.
Does apologizing hurt the stock price?
Academic research using 223 non-financial crises found that the effect depends on responsibility. Apologizing when you are not directly responsible (taking blame you did not earn) reduces shareholder wealth. Failing to apologize when you are responsible also reduces it. The optimal response is matching the level of accountability to the actual level of fault.
Sources
- Journal of Business Ethics, “Corporate Apology Research,” 2022. Academic research on 223 non-financial corporate crises; findings that matching apology level to actual responsibility determines stock impact; “I” vs. “we” statement analysis.
- Journal of Business Ethics, “The Value of Apology: How do Corporate Apologies Moderate the Stock Market Reaction to Non-Financial Corporate Crises?,” 2020. Shareholder wealth impact of apologizing when not responsible vs. failing to apologize when responsible.
- The Verge, “Inside Away Luggage’s Toxic Workplace,” 2019. Away/Steph Korey investigation, Slack message evidence, resignation and un-resignation timeline.
- Washington Post, “Pepsi Apologizes to Kendall Jenner,” 2017. Coverage of Pepsi’s decision to apologize to Jenner rather than to the protest movements the ad appropriated.
- Brand Finance, “D&G Brand Value Impact,” 2018. Estimated 20% loss of D&G’s $937M brand value following the China ad controversy and Gabbana DM scandal.
- BuzzFeed News, “Jaclyn Hill Lipstick Recall,” 2019. Product defect documentation, recall details, and subsequent brand trajectory through Forma Brands bankruptcy.
- Fast Company, “Every Starbucks in the U.S. is closing for an afternoon for racial bias training,” 2018. Coverage of the Philadelphia arrest, Kevin Johnson’s response, 8,000-store closure, and subsequent legal developments.
- Fortune, “Corporate Crisis Management,” 2023. Analysis of brand recovery timelines and financial impact data for Netflix Qwikster, Peloton, and Lululemon crises.
- YouGov BrandIndex, consumer perception tracking data, 2017-2024. Brand health score movements following major corporate apologies and crises.