Companies screw up.
People screw up.
If a company is owned by a person, they’re gonna screw up… at some point.

It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to screw up. It’s okay to totally blow it. It’s okay to make a decision and then realize, “OH CRAP, that was a horrible decision.”

It’s called experience. It’s called life lessons. It’s called gaining knowledge.

If you’re not screwing up, you’re doing it wrong.

Either that, or you’re playing it safe.

Now, what you do AFTER you screw up is what can define you as an individual, a professional, or a business.

SO, if you know you’ve screwed up, made a bad decision, or whathaveyou, own it. Fix the problem. Make it better. Remedy the situation.

Above all: Apologize. Publicly. (that is, if your mistake was public… if it wasn’t, just apologize to the person you know you need to apologize to)

And recently, I just saw the BEST public company apology EVER. Ever.

And it came from a TAMPON company.

Now, fellas, please don’t click/run/shy away. You should check this out, too. Because it’s awesome. Don’t worry, it’s not going to make you uncomfortable. I can assure you. And if it does, I, too, will apologize publicly… to you.

In short, OB Tampons took a popular product off the shelves in 2010. And PMSing women were PISSED. How dare they take away the beloved feminine products of a particular demographic of pre-menopausal women. When news that the product was going off the shelves, people started buying the last boxes in bulk and selling them on eBay. At one point, a box of 40 was going for over $64. WHAT?!

Well, needless to say OB heard their cries and complaints, and in 2012, OB is putting that product back on the shelves.

And they apologized for the absence. In amazing fashion. Via MUSIC VIDEO. WITH YOUR NAME inserted. Brilliant. So brilliant.

To me, it’s an amazing use of technology, innovation, and sheer marketing genius.

Well done, OB. Well done.

What other examples of awesome / epic apologies have you seen? When was the last time you screwed up? What did you learn from it? How did you make up for it?