Everyone praised that coffee chain's viral apology last month, but it was the worst one I've seen in 3 years

Olivia Grant · 2026-10-03T13:40:03.462528+00:00

So back on February 12th, that coffee chain with the mermaid logo posted their apology video about the union stuff, and my entire feed acted like it was some masterclass in crisis PR. I actually worked social media for a regional grocery chain out of Cincinnati for 4 years, so I watched the whole thing with my old work brain on, and it did the opposite of what an apology is supposed to do. They said sorry 11 times in 90 seconds but never once named what they were sorry for, which tells me legal wrote it and not a human. The comments under it were full of people calling it brave, and I just sat there thinking, brave would be saying the actual thing out loud. Last week I pulled up the transcript again to show a friend, and the word "mistakes" shows up 4 times with zero examples attached. My old boss used to say if your apology could apply to any company on earth, it isn't an apology, it's a vibe. Did anyone else clock how much of the praise came from people who don't even work in this stuff, or am I being too harsh here?

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Everyone praised that coffee chain's viral apology last month, but it was the worst one I've seen in 3 years | Brand Drama Breakdown - SMM Buzz