About

YouTube Apology Videos are a trope of YouTube posts in which a person offers an apology for an offense or scandal they've induced. These videos began growing so popular and numerous that they became a source of parody.

Origin

YouTube apology videos started becoming popular in the mid 2010s. While the date of the first sincere YouTube apology is unclear, parodies started as early as 2015. On August 19th, 2015, YouTuber PeanutButterGamer posted a parody giving an overly sincere apology for an error he made in a Super Mario Galaxy playthrough, gaining 1.5 million views (shown below).

Spread

Over the following several years, the YouTube apology became more ubiquitous because of several videos which were deemed insincere or over-the-top. One such example was Tmartin's apology video, which was mocked for being insincere and was eventually deleted (shown below, left). Tmartin was mocked for what was seen as transparently trying to garner sympathy by using his dog in the video. Another popular example was posted by Laura Lee, who spent the video crying loudly while working through her apology (parody reupload shown below, right).

The trend grew popular enough to spawn parodies and analysis about it. YouTuber Bobby Burns posted an analysis of how YouTubers emotionally manipulate their audience, gaining over 1.3 million views (shown below, left). PewDiePie posted a video making fun of several apology videos, including his own, gaining over 10 million videos (shown below, right).

Jacksfilms parodied the trend by creating a Halloween costume based off YouTube apology videos, gaining over 959,000 views (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References