When the apology becomes the crisis

Catch up quick: Three recent brand crises show how companies can either compound a mistake or begin containing it.

• Good Good and Callaway: An Aug. 21 ad showing Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark knocking creator Alexis Miestowski to the ground drew immediate backlash.
• Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick apologized, saying the company was responsible for what it put "into the world and how it is received."
• Callaway's initial statement didn't disclose its role in approving the ad before CEO Chip Brewer later acknowledged and apologized for that approval.
• Neutrogena: After Hayden Panettiere's Aug. 16 death, earlier comments resurfaced in which she said she believed the brand ended their decade-long relationship after she discussed postpartum depression.
• Four days later, Neutrogena said it had made her "feel unsupported" and promised a "significant investment" to an unnamed community health partner.
• Target: A children's Halloween costume from a Target-owned brand drew condemnation over the weekend of Aug. 22 for echoing stereotypical minstrel imagery.
• Target apologized, saying, "We know we got this wrong." It called the costume "offensive" and said it "should never have been part of our assortment."

The big picture: Good Good and Neutrogena's responses opened up new questions for customers and stakeholders rather than closing down the original controversy.

• "Brands need a social media-specific crisis strategy," said Grace Tully, a social media consultant who was worked on campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.
• "People want to know, 'What's next? How are you going to make sure this doesn't happen again? Are you going to put your money where your mouth is?'"

Between the lines: The way the message is delivered can matter as much as what's said.

• Neutrogena disabled comments on its statement, pushing the criticism elsewhere across its social channels, and the company hasn't published anything on its Instagram or U.S. TikTok accounts since.
• Tully said audiences increasingly treat social channels as a company's de facto homepage during a crisis — the place they go to see whether and how the brand has responded.
• Turning off comments can leave audiences feeling "silenced on platforms that should feel really democratic," Tully said.
• And most of the conversation is happening beyond a company's own account anyway, she said — through TikToks, reposts and commentary the brand has little ability to control.

Zoom in: After Callaway cut ties with Good Good, Kendrick accused the former partner of letting Good Good take the fall, all but guaranteeing another round of coverage, which culminated on Wednesday with both Kendrick and Good Good president Joe Flannery departing the company.

• Crisis adviser Stephanie Craig says the problem goes deeper than any individual statement: "The same structure/culture that got them into the situation is what has prolonged it."
• "Companies that believe that they can get away with just a marketing person to cover comms are going to make these mistakes, because a communicator's sole job is to build and protect reputation."

And promises aren't action. Craig says Neutrogena should have figured out the specifics of its women's health commitment before announcing it.

• "People don't want to hear, well, we're going to do it someday," Craig says.
• Instead, brands should take the action, then announce it, she says, so the message becomes: "We want to show you that we mean what we say."

The other side: Target apologized, specifically acknowledged the harm to Black customers, employees and partners and said it was investigating how the product was approved and what needed to change.

• It left comments open, absorbing a barrage of criticism rather than trying to shut down the conversation.
• And unlike Neutrogena, Target has been able to resume posting regular content.

Reality check: An apology can't make a painful issue go away entirely.

• Actress Viola Davis rejected Target's apology, writing, "You have shown us that you are not on OUR side."
• But at least Target's response didn't introduce another controversy for the company to explain.

The bottom line: A crisis response is a hydra fight, Every unanswered question, vague promise or defensive counterattack risks giving the story another head.