The Evening Standard in London earlier this year embarked on a three-week citywide publicity campaign to apologize for its past reporting.

According to Roy Greenslade, a columnist for the Guardian, the campaign included posters splattered on buses and subway trains emblazoned with several messages.

All the ads begin with the word "Sorry" in big black letters, with the reason for the apology in small letters beneath it.

"Sorry for losing touch", said one poster. Others said, "Sorry for being negative," "Sorry for being complacent," "Sorry for being predictable," and "Sorry for taking you for granted."

Other messages apologized for the paper's negative reporting, taking readers for granted, being complacent and being predictable, Greenslade reported.

Market research conducted by the paper's new owners had apparently indicated that readers of the paper considered it to be "too negative, not celebratory enough and guilty of failing to cater for the capital's needs."

The ads, put together by the famous McCann Erickson ad agency, didn't contain the paper's name, only its popular "Eros" logo in the lower left corner.

According to Greenslade the "market research evidently discovered that Londoners considered the paper to be too negative, not celebratory enough and guilty of failing to cater for the capital's needs. A great city with great facilities was being persistently talked down."

New editor Geordie Greig said that under his leadership, the Standard from now on would take on a "fundamentally optimistic view of life."

While some apparently appreciated the paper's candor and contrition, others weren't falling for it.

Said one blogger on a popular British Web site, "This campaign comes across like a moody, hormonal adolescent who shouts their apology at a parent before gasping 'It's so unfair!!'. Nothing's changed then. Very poor."