In the wake of public missteps, Wells Fargo, Uber and Facebook have spent millions of dollars on advertising campaigns to repair their fractured relationships with customers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Wells Fargo has spent $21.5 million on its "Earn Back Your Trust" TV campaign after revelations that bank employees opened accounts without customers' knowledge. It is estimated that Facebook has spent close to $30 million on TV commercials in the wake of its Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal.
"We live in an age of rage, and companies are now compelled to engage and apologize," Harlan Loeb, global chair of crisis at Edelman, which advises Wells Fargo on corporate reputation, told WSJ.
Uber faced a number of scandals in 2017, including accusations of a culture of sexual harassment, that led CEO Travis Kalanick to step down. New CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has spent almost $10 million on a new TV ad about his company's new direction. Though these corporate apologies have become common, public relations experts say they are worthless unless they feel authentic to consumers.
"Apologies should be treated like spices you add to a dish," Gene Grabowski, partner at kglobal, told WSJ. "You don't want to overdo it."