The era of the public apology is ending

State of play: American Eagle doubled down on its controversial ad featuring Sydney Sweeney, women's dating advice app Tea didn't apologize after user data was hacked and leaked, and Crowdstrike left out the "sorry" initially when its global outage took out airlines and more last year.

• While phony statements from Astronomer executives littered the internet, the executives have yet to issue public apologies following the recent kiss cam scandal.
• Replit CEO Amjad Masad had choice words for X users who were offended by his stance on the Gaza conflict, writing, "I've been reflecting and going back and forth on how to handle this. I finally realized that I must, from the bottom of my heart, apologize to — absolutely nobody."

Zoom out: This isn't happening in a vacuum, according to communication experts — the no-apology, hardline stance is a response to desensitized audiences, political polarization and cancel culture fatigue.

• "People are simply tired of the outrage cycles and cancellation campaigns," crisis communications expert Molly McPherson says. "And the public is splitting because they don't want to jump on someone else's grievance bandwagon."
• Plus, there's no guarantee the apology will placate people, as it may be seen as a weakness to some or insufficient to others.
• The rapid pace of the news cycle is another major consideration. Controversy could quickly blow over without the need for a public apology, which could threaten to drive more coverage and conversation.

What they're saying: Instead of making sweeping public apologies, some are opting for more targeted outreach, says Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communications at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.

• "Leaders are reconsidering whether it's the right tool, and we're watching companies experiment here, defending their decision, ignoring the noise or addressing constituencies privately instead of making a public spectacle," he adds.

Context: An apology signals a reset. It is an acknowledgement that something went wrong and will be corrected.

• However, if a change in strategy or action isn't taken, then apologizing looks inauthentic and can worsen the backlash.
• "Not every crisis demands a loud response ... but it's almost as if the more personal the crisis, the more personal the response needs to be," McPherson says.

Yes, but: American consumers are still boycotting brands that don't align with their values.

• 1 in 4 Americans report boycotting a brand, with Democrats twice as likely to boycott as Republicans, a recent Ipsos survey found.

The bottom line: Taking accountability and being transparent can build trust in place of an apology.

• "The real risk is confusing avoiding an apology with avoiding accountability," Argenti says. "The best leaders aren't abandoning responsibility, they're just finding different ways to communicate it."

More on Axios:

• Social media algorithms fuel public apologies