That canned apology from Sweetgreen landed like a lead balloon.

Saw Sweetgreen put out a statement yesterday about their new ownership changes. Sounded like a robot wrote it. No real accountability, just corporate speak. Felt like they were trying to smooth things over without admitting any mistakes. I've seen this play out a dozen times in small business. People just want honesty, not a rehearsed script. Anyone else find these big brand apologies ring hollow every time?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabethhayes2mo ago

Right, because nothing says "we care" like a press release written by a committee.

joseph_torres2mo ago

The CEO's name alone would have meant more than that bland statement, @elizabethhayes. They spent three days crafting 500 words that said absolutely nothing. A simple "We messed up, here's how we fix it" would have taken five minutes.

the_parker1mo ago

Oh man, this is so spot on. I worked at a company that had a "situation" and they literally locked like 10 people in a conference room for a full day to come up with a statement. Then they sent it out and it was basically "we are aware of the issue and are looking into it." My buddy in comms told me the CEO wanted to just record a quick video apology, but the board shot it down. So instead we got this soulless paragraph that made everyone even more mad. It felt like they spent more time worrying about lawsuits than actually talking to people. Just say sorry and mean it, it's not that hard.