Best CEO Apology Ever: You Just Can't Throw a Baby at a Window Anymore
HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples' 1,030-word apology for his Super Bowl ad -- in which a baby is thrown face-first against a plate glass window -- is either an act of evil genius or unusual candor. Or both. Either way, it does something that most corporate apologies never do: Give a genuine explanation of management's thinking. It also subtly suggests that the people demanding the apology -- anti-domestic violence advocates, mostly -- are people who lack the ability to see what's in front of their faces.
Although the statement -- particularly its length -- looks like a stream of consciousness, it's obviously very carefully written. It begins:
I want to assure you we love families (and of course, babies).Odd choice, putting the babies in parentheses almost as an afterthought. I'm beginning to suspect Sharples is trying to be funny.
Of course it was our intent that the "test baby" create a moment of comic shock -â€" with one 30-second spot at the Super Bowl, you need to make a big impression to break through to the audience.Here, Sharples states the classic Super Bowl dilemma: The game is hopelessly cluttered with spectacular ads. It's virtually impossible to produce something tasteful and still be noticed next to Michael Bay's latest civilization-destroying movie trailer. It's almost as if Sharples is blaming the ad inventory environment rather than his brand management team.
... we also worked hard to make it clear the ad was not to be taken seriously. For example, we instructed the special effects artists to make it very obvious that the "test baby" was in fact a rubber doll. We clarified the point further by inserting the words "test baby" onto the screen, while having the actor emphasize this point in the dialogue.
He's virtually accusing his critics of being blind.... it wasn't intended to glorify or promote violence towards children. Just as Snickers wasn't promoting violence towards women (Roseanne Barr struck by a log), or Doritos wasn't trying to promote pet abuse (in its highly rated spot about a dog being enticed to jump through a window).
We do not believe the ad will result in an increase in violence towards babies, just as last year's Super Bowl ad featuring Betty White didn't lead to an increase in elderly women being tackled in parks.Translation: You idiots don't have a sense of humor.
However, we feel we made a mistake in judgment, and for that all of us at HomeAway are truly sorry.There's your apology. Now go away.
And even though it has generated lackluster reviews (and I'm being generous here) by the press, the traffic generated to the HomeAway website has exceeded our highly successful Super Bowl ad from 2010.Groupon provided cover
Until now, Groupon had taken most of the heat for its lousy Tibet joke. Save for one article in USA Today and a handful of blog items there had been very little criticism of the ad. I said it was "a disturbing spot -- sure to draw complaints" before it ran, but simply because a company draws complaints doesn't mean the company has to take them seriously. Some people will complain about anything.
Now compare Sharples' apology it to Gap (GPS) North American president Marka Hansen's mealy mouthed retraction of the clothing chain's new logo, or BP CEO Tony Hayward's dissembling over the size of the Gulf of Mexico after the oil spill, or Summer's Eve brand manager Angela Bryant's mea culpa for an ad suggesting that douches help women get pay raises.
Sharples' statement is a masterpiece -- it technically apologizes while making it clear that the people demanding the apology are morons. The apology -- and the removal of the campaign -- will do nothing but drive more traffic to HomeAway's website, which, as Sharples happily admits, was the point.
Related: