You're forgetting one crucial part: There was nothing wrong with SK-II!!! http://20six.co.uk/positivesolutions/art/575268/Whiter_than_white_#comm If they'd apologized, bent too far over backwards, then when common sense was finally restored and people realized that SK-II was perfectly safe, nobody would have believed it. Now they can rebuild sales and brand, whereas if they'd admitted their product was dangerous then it could never recover and global sales would be affected. These companies have to put up with some strange Internet opinion storms, and if you're 100% right and not cheating the Chinese customer, you've got to stick to your guns!