Over the past couple of years, it’s been hard to keep up with the ever-changing image of - and outlook for - JCPenney. From the ousting of presidents and CEO’s to shake-ups in sales strategies to quizzical ad campaigns, the North Texas-based retailer has been on quite a rollercoaster ride.  

Click to read Headline Round-Up: More Shake-Ups at JCP

  In fact, it has often seemed that the chain was grasping at a clientele that just didn’t gel with its 100-plus years of brand-building. This week, however, through a pleading new ad, JCPenney is again reaching out to their classic shopper with a major mea culpa.   “What matters with mistakes is what we learn. …Come back to JC Penney, “ croons a calming female voice in the video, which debuted Wednesday on Facebook. The spot then took off across the web, hitting sites from the Huffington Post to WWD to Racked. As of this morning, over 56,000 folks have “liked” it on Facebook, and over 3,700 comments have been logged.   We’ll let you make the call after watching the video for yourself. What do you think? Heartfelt or manipulative?     For our part, we here at DFW Style Daily recently proclaimed our love of certain current JCPenney offerings. What if ads focused more on the chain’s cool, well-executed collabs (like a recent print-tastic pairing with Duro Olowu) and less on high-concept branding? And hey, how about showing off those nifty Sephora shop-in-shops? Just sayin’.     JCPenney store exterior image via Forbes.com.