If you are not chronically online, congratulations. Also, you may not have seen what might be the most egregious, shortsighted golf advertisement in recent history.
Moments like these don’t come along very often. Golf isn’t known for controversial advertising. I mean, it’s golf.
Football had Colin Kaepernick’s NIKE commercial after his national anthem protest, basketball had Charles Barkley telling the world he was not a role model, soccer had Thierry Henry promoting Gillette razors right after a controversial handball in the World Cup.
Golf has … Tiger’s commercial using Earl Woods’ voice following the scandal?
Anything remotely noteworthy in golf advertising has usually involved Tiger or Rory McIlroy. For the vast majority of golf ads, I couldn’t tell you a single memorable thing about them.
That is what made this recent Good Good/Callaway ad so unexpectedly terrible.
How did this commercial get approved?
Let’s be honest: Good Good and Callaway have serious egg on their face here.
The ad for the new special-edition Good Good Callaway Quantum driver shows Good Good’s Garrett Clark running full speed and absolutely trucking a woman, Alexis Miestowski, as she falls to the ground with a whelp. Miestowski is a member of Good Good Girls and voluntarily went along with this, apparently.
Clark then towers over her to say, “Do not touch my new driver” as Miestowski smiles (for those interested, the ad continues as one member of the group seems to have a mental breakdown and becomes obsessed with the driver. I watched it a few times and still don’t understand the plot).
I don’t even know where to start here.
Everyone involved thought this was a good idea? Hey, let’s show a dude hitting a woman and being an asshole towards her. That will definitely appeal to our base of brain-dead idiots.
Throughout the past year, we’ve been highlighting how big of a brand Good Good has become. They have helped revive the Big Break. They are sponsoring a PGA Tour event. Their merch/equipment business is impressive. They came out with Good Good Girls, an attempt to diversify their audience (yikes).
It would be one thing if a small outfit took a stab at a bizarre commercial like this but we’re talking about a legitimate company here!
You can blame this on the creators within Good Good (they deserve it) but there are a ton of real adults involved here at Good Good and Callaway. Business people, marketing experts, knowledgeable industry types …
This commercial made it through several layers of planning and production. They had to come up with the idea, schedule filming, shoot it, edit it and decide on timing for publish. Nobody stopped to say, “Hey, this idea is not the one”?
The kicker is that it’s not even remotely funny. It’s totally incoherent. I can’t even grasp the concept of what they were trying to do.
Good Good is now backpedaling with corporate speak
Shortly after the ad was released, the backlash started. As the justified vitriol came their way, Good Good pulled the ad and released a statement.
“We posted a video to our socials that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand. We have since taken that content down, and sincerely apologize. Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive for all, and we will continue to ensure that is our mission moving forward.”
This statement honestly upset me more than the initial video.
This video absolutely 100 percent aligns with your values. You had dozens of moments to abort and you didn’t. This wasn’t some reactionary error; this is the kind of sophomoric humor you think resonates with your audience because it resonates with you.
At the very least, the idea was remarkably dumb.
This statement is vapid and corporate beyond measure. No contrition. No understanding of why it was wrong. Basically they are apologizing for the backlash.
Callaway later released an even shorter and more inane statement: “We are disappointed by the content that was posted, and are appreciative of Good Good for addressing this. We look forward to working together to ensure a more inclusive space in golf.”
Wow, Callaway. So you took zero accountability for this? It’s a Callaway driver. Nobody on your side saw the ad before it was posted? That’s what Golf Digest reported (“Good Good reportedly retained creative control of its content in its partnership with Callaway, while the company would gain access to Good Good’s social media presence, which now numbers more than four million followers”).
If that’s the case, Callaway is guilty of negligence. You are fully trusting Good Good on all content decisions involving your brand? Not sure that’s a great call.
Some people will call my opinion an overreaction. That I’m being soft. I’m sure politics will somehow get shoehorned into this.
Stop it. This is arguably the most influential golf brand for young people. Women’s golf participation is booming. The golf world should all be in agreement that this kind of content isn’t acceptable.
If we can’t agree on that, we probably wouldn’t be friends.
Top Photo Caption: Garrett Clark starred in a controversial Good Good ad this past week. (GETTY IMAGES/Kevin C. Cox)
Warthog
1 week ago
I don’t get the canceling of Good Good over this. Stupid ad. They pulled it and apologized. It wasn’t so egregious that retailer drop their merchandise. If ppl don’t buy it, the fine. Callaway is slinking away slowly. But then, I hate it when ppl do something out of character and then get fired because the internet pastes their employers name all over. People suffer enough from doing one stupid thing. They shouldn’t lose their livelihood and have their family life ruined for one stupid mistake.