Corporate Apologies: 3 of 18 Big Brands Skip the Blame
Everything-PR coded 20 famous corporate apologies, from Target, Samsung and Microsoft to Delta, Twitter and PayPal. Of the 18 with a source on file, 15 companies owned their role in the problem and 3 (Delta Air Lines, Twitter and PayPal) said sorry without clearly taking the blame. It is a register of hand-picked apologies, not a measure of how often companies apologize.
Updated October 30, 2026. Provisional first edition.
Contents
- What did Everything-PR look at?
- Which companies said sorry and owned it?
- Which companies said sorry without owning it?
- How were the apologies coded?
- What are the limits of this register?
- The full 20-company register
- Frequently asked questions
What did Everything-PR look at?
We assembled 20 named corporate crises, each with a public apology, and coded three things: an explicit apology, an acceptance of responsibility, and a specific corrective action. Toyota (2024 certification irregularities) and FedEx (2011 promotional giveaway delays) have no source on file yet, so they sit outside the headline count until one is attached.
Because every case was picked for having an apology, the apology rate is 100% by design. The real question is what came with the apology. For related reading, see how Neutrogena's apology timing played out and what crisis PR costs.
Which companies said sorry and owned it?
Fifteen sourced cases were coded as accepting responsibility: Microsoft (2012), Target (2014), Samsung (2016), Google (2017), Cloudflare (2025), CrowdStrike (2024), Amazon (2021), Airbnb (2019), Starbucks (2018), Southwest Airlines (December 2022), Atlassian (2022), Twitch (2024), Tether Tools (2017), Zappos (2010) and Aramark (2023). All 15 also named a corrective action.
The standouts went granular. Southwest published a detailed account of its December 2022 breakdown. Atlassian acknowledged its own errors in deleting customer sites. Tether Tools titled its apology "made a mistake." Those three, plus Twitch, rest on official statements we have reviewed. See also this crisis PR case study from the US Open.
Which companies said sorry without owning it?
Three sourced cases were coded as apology without clear responsibility:
- Delta Air Lines (2024): apologized to customers after mass cancellations tied to the July 2024 technology outage.
- Twitter (2020): apologized after an account security incident.
- PayPal (2017): apologized around the TIO Networks suspension.
Each still announced corrective steps. Delta and CrowdStrike are two sides of the same July 2024 event, so they are not independent cases. A fourth "No" on responsibility, FedEx (2011), is excluded from the headline for lack of a source.
How were the apologies coded?
Table 1. Coding rubric. Source: Everything-PR.| Measure | Coded Yes when | Coded No when |
|---|
| Explicit apology | The company says "sorry," "apologize" or "apology" in its own voice | Only "regret," "unfortunate" or "disappointed" |
| Responsibility | The company says its own action, error or decision caused the harm | Cause is framed as a third party, circumstance or only "the impact" |
| Corrective action | A specific fix, refund, policy or process change is named | Only a promise to "do better" or "review" |
A second coder will independently score a sample of cases before the next edition, and agreement will be published.
What are the limits of this register?
- Twenty hand-picked cases cannot show how often companies behave a given way.
- Eleven cases await a source-text recheck, and three (Starbucks, Zappos, Aramark) rest on secondary reporting.
- Responsibility is the most subjective measure, which is why the rule is published above.
The full 20-company register
Headline counts
Table 3. Headline counts, 18 sourced cases. Source: Everything-PR.| Measure | Count |
|---|
| Explicit apology | 18 of 18 |
| Responsibility accepted | 15 of 18 |
| Apology without clear responsibility | 3 of 18 (Delta Air Lines, Twitter, PayPal) |
| Corrective action named | 18 of 18 |
