Blake Dowling
Last night, I was watching a Celtics game. Late in the half, during a timeout, there were back-to-back commercials — each a message of apology.
Wells Fargo was very sorry they created millions of fake accounts to cook the books; Facebook is very sorry about, I guess, lots of things.
Wells Fargo’s message was pretty clear, but the FB ad was a bit like a hurricane of messaging.
Bottom line, apologies are everywhere these days.
Or, maybe, are we a nation of apologists? Perhaps we have always been.
Are these nationwide campaigns helpful? Are they even necessary?
While Zuck was testifying to Congress and scandal after scandal was unfolding for his firm, meanwhile the company’s financials were skyrocketing, in fact, their first-quarter earnings for 2018 were up 60 percent over the same time last year.
All situations are unique, and maybe FB is bullet resistant (not bulletproof, mind you. No one is.) Its offering has integrated itself into the fabric of our personal and professional lives, and it is an extremely “sticky” company/offering to simply toss out the window.
Most of us are in professions where apologies are required and necessary. Think about KFC this year. They ran out of chicken. Ummm. Oops to the guy ordering the chicken.
You had ONE job, Daryl. 😊
How did they respond? With a pretty cheeky PR campaign.
How about politics? Apologies are welcome (it would seem) but a “there’s the door” approach appears to be the common end game. Plus, in situations last year involving state Sens. Jeff Clemens and Jack Latvala, we are not talking about creating fake bank accounts (or running out of chicken).
In these cases, more serious issues are at play. In the political world, once trust is broken and alleged bad behavior is exposed, it is much harder to get it back.
City of Tallahassee mayor? Apology.
Joy Reid calls Charlie Crist “Miss Charlie.” Classy. Another apology.
Why are people apologizing so much these days? Doesn’t it seem as if apologies are rampant — money, data, sex (and chicken)?
Perhaps, the world of social media and our press focuses so much on those doing wrong and the apologies that come after.
Just a crazy thought: Maybe we should focus more on those business leaders and companies that are not apologizing for anything?
For example, Gov. Rick Scott’s leadership during recent hurricanes. No apology required. Thank you, sir.
Another is Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, who are fighting the good fight for the people of Puerto Rico. Great job, guys, as 10 percent of this U.S. territory is still without power.
So, if my thoughts in this column have offended you in any way, email me at the address below. Perhaps I will send an apology. (HA!)
As my friend Brad Swanson likes to say, if you aren’t taking any flak, you aren’t on target.
Have a great weekend.
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Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies. He enjoys sports, IPA’s and can be reached at [email protected].
