It feels like fewer than two weeks ago that JCPenney was coming to us, hat in heads, begging our forgiveness for the 18-month mistake that was the Ron Johnson era. Humbled, demure, wary of rejection after so much time in the dog house, JCPenney’s ad asked shoppers to please, please come back.

It felt like only a smattering of days ago, because it was only about two weeks ago that that happened. And hey, looks like that ad campaign did the trick, because JCPenney has already pulled it and replaced it with a new message — everyone came back, it’s time to celebrate!

Clicking on the old, “We’re sorry, we screwed up” ad now takes potential viewers to a “Sorry, can’t watch that” notice on YouTube. But if you’re in need of dulcet tones and soft lighting, look no farther than the above ad.

Kids and moms cuddle and braid hair, cakes get decorated, teens pose for pictures before the big dance, all while a gentle voice croons things like: “We brought back the things you like about JCPenney and given you new things to explore. And now, we’re happy to say that you’ve come back to us. We’re speechless, except for two little words — thank you.”

In other words — JCPenney is over that whole “we mucked up” message and it’s time to act like we’re already popping the bubbly and toasting to a profitable future. But lullaby-like ads only go so far. It still remains to be seen whether JCP’s sales figures are worth celebrating.

We won’t have to wait too long to find out, as its quarterly report is due out this week. While it’ll be a full quarter after that until the whole picture becomes clear, it’ll be interesting to see how much things have really changed since it gave former CEO Johnson the boot.

As for that ancient ad from earlier this month, a spokeswoman confirmed to Daily Finance that the campaign wasn’t meant to go on forever.

“The ‘It’s No Secret’ campaign was only scheduled to run a couple of days as a precursor to our Mother’s Day campaign,” she said in an emailed statement. “However, we encourage the customer dialogue to continue through our social media channels.”

J.C. Penney is Done Apologizing [Daily Finance]

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