Shoutout to the PR guy who told me to just apologize and shut up

My small brand got slammed online last month for a dumb shipping delay email. I wrote this long defensive post explaining why it happened. A friend who does PR said delete it and just say 'we messed up, here's the refund.' I ignored him. Posted my explanation. People tore it apart. 3 days later I deleted it and did his way. Way less backlash. Has anyone else fought the urge to over-explain and just made it worse?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_foster7921h ago

Didn't I learn that lesson after my own three-paragraph apology turned into a five-paragraph disaster?

anderson.david17h ago

Oh man, the "three paragraphs turns into five" thing hit me right in the gut. I once tried to apologize to my cousin for ruining her birthday cake, and I ended up writing a whole essay about my childhood issues with baking. I have no idea how I got from "sorry about the cake" to blaming my grandmother's old mixer, but it was a mess. By the end I had to just delete the whole thing and call her instead.

blairtaylor19h ago

Wait, did your apology come with a soundtrack like my friend Beth's where she accidentally sent the heavy breathing audio file of her crying instead of the text? She had to full-on delete her Facebook for a month after that mess.

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