Apology videos are a fine art that few have mastered. I’ve decided to compile an easy how-to guide for those of you who may find yourselves in hot water in the future. However, this should be a last resort. Make sure you’re being careful about the things you post.

1. Choose your preferred form of artistic expression
   1. An apology video is a great way to show off your natural talents. Sienna Mae infamously did an interpretive dance to apologize for sexually assaulting her ex-boyfriend. This was an interesting strategy and the dance was not very good, but it at least got people talking about it. Colleen Ballinger whipped out a ukulele to “apologize” for grooming children. Maybe she knew that little kids like to listen to simple melodies. Whatever her reasoning was, the apology did not go over well. However, as long as you are passionate about whatever type of music/dance/performance I’m sure it’ll go over fine.
2. Bring on the tears
   1. Crying is a surefire way to gain sympathy for yourself. If you are ever worried about coming off as unsympathetic this is an easy way for the audience to connect with you. If you see someone crying you will automatically feel bad for them, no matter how bad what they did was. If you’re wondering if this is true or not, just watch any episode of To Catch a Predator. Those people always start crying and you immediately feel super bad for them.
3. Don’t worry about the words that much
   1. One of my favorite apology videos is from Logan Paul. He made a video very soon after come under some backlash for filming a dead body in a Japanese suicide forest. The video begins with some words that I know by heart: “I made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment, and I don’t expect to be forgiven.” What really makes this line, though, is the way that he is staring into the camera so we can see every square inch of his eyeball while he says it. It’s very surreal to hear Logan Paul saying something like this, and as a result it sounds insincere. This is a great example of working too hard on a script. I mean, who does he think he is? William Shakespeare? I didn’t even know he knew half of the words in that sentence. Continuous? Severe? Made? Come on, Logan. You’re not fooling anyone. It’s much better to just shoot your apology off the cuff. 
4. Don’t accept blame
   1. Usually, people who apologize have nothing to apologize for. I only did it ONE TIME?? Come on. So what if someone “allegedly” emotionally abused their partner from a long term relationship. However, social etiquette dictates that whenever someone accuses you of something you have to apologize. The best way to apologize while knowing you didn’t do anything wrong is to not accept any blame. You could also say that you’re sorry that people got upset about what you said, or you’re sorry that what you said was misinterpreted. Just because someone makes one little mistake like filming a dead body in a suicide forest or grooming their young fans they are villainized up until they make an apology. 

Now, there is something to be said about the benefits of apology videos for someone’s brand. Colleen Ballinger’s apology, for example, brought her out of irrelevance for a few months. However, this is probably not the best way to become famous. I understand, though, that some of you may have to take what you can get.

1. The crazier, the better
   1. Try not to do anything illegal because if you apologize for it, it might seem like you’re confessing to a crime. Make sure that if you do commit a crime, no one on the internet finds out about it. However, as a rule of thumb, if you do something absolutely insane then it will be very likely that you will go viral with your apology. For instance, the Fine Bros (creators of the Kids, Teens, Adults, and Elders React YouTube series’) once tried to copyright the concept of reaction videos and the word “react”. That was an insane thing to do. Their apology video garnered so much attention that they had to delete it. I guess they don’t understand that all press is good press. The video, which has since been re-uploaded under a different channel, consists of them essentially saying that their audience isn’t smart enough to understand what they were trying to do. 
2. Injure people (non-lethally)
   1. One of the events that made Tana Mongeau a household name was the infamous TanaCon. After she didn’t win a title at VidCon, she decided to start her own festival. The festival was the same weekend as VidCon. Sadly, TanaCon was canceled the day of, though this was not before some of her fans in line got 2nd degree burns from the sun. Who could ever forget TanaCon and the ensuing apology? If you could pull off something like this you could be famous for sure.

Alternatively, you could try being a whistleblower. You can get even more famous than you would be as an apologizer if you called someone out and made them apologize. Tati Westbrook rose to fame in 2019 for her acclaimed “BYE SISTER” video which called out James Charles for a number of questionable practices after James used a hair product from a company that was competing with Tati. I didn’t know who Tati was before this whole scandal was revealed. If you become friends with a bunch of people you think will do problematic things, make sure you keep a list so that the script of your video is easy to write. This method may burn some bridges, but anything is worse the price of internet fame.

In conclusion, it’s very difficult to make a good apology video. You have to toe the line if you actually want to apologize, but if you want to go viral, then you should probably do a bad video. This article is a fool proof guide on how to apologize based on years of great apologies from influencers.