Good Good Golf, an independent media and apparel company, has come under fire following the release of an advertisement which depicted a man shoving a woman to the ground. The brand, which has one of the most popular sports YouTube channels with over 2 million subscribers, has apologized and removed the advert, created for golf club manufacturer Callaway. The video has been widely criticized and accused of making light of violence against women.
Good Good Golf said in a statement on Saturday, “We posted a video to our channels that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand.” “We have since taken that content down and sincerely apologize,” the statement added. Amid the ensuing fallout, Callaway has ended its partnership with Good Good Golf, which it had worked with since 2023. Callaway said in a statement to X on Thursday that its content review process was not “comprehensive enough” and that it had “listened and reflected deeply on the hurt and disappointment caused by the video we reposted.
Good Good Golf has also stepped away from its sponsorship of a PGA Tour event in Texas in November. That news was confirmed on Thursday, two days after the PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp condemned the advert, calling it “concerning” and “clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values.” Newsweek has contacted Good Good Golf and Callaway via email for comment. In the commercial, female golfer Alexis Miestowski, who is a regular content creator for Good Good Golf, moves to take a golf club out of a bag.
The Good Good Golf co-founder, Garrett Clark, then shoves her to the ground, stands over her, and shouts, “Do not touch my new driver.” In their statement on Saturday after the video was removed, Good Good Golf said that it has “Always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all.” That apology, though, did little to pacify the public or sponsors. The response to the original statement shared by Good Good Golf was largely negative. Army veteran, shared their statement on X in a post viewed 1.5 million times and said, “You all shot the add… You can’t claim it’s against your values." Meanwhile, Nicole Rae, the senior director of social media for golf company Skratch Golf, wrote in a post on X viewed over 650,000 times: “They so don’t get the point.
They didn’t just create an ad that makes golf non-inclusive to women, but it endorses violence against women in the scariest and most threatening way. This is a horrible look for them and for Callaway. Wildly disappointing.” Rolapp meanwhile told reporters on Tuesday that the initial response was “a bit late and defensive.” Following the announcement that Good Good Golf would step away as the sponsor of the PGA Tour Event, PGA Communications said in a statement on X, “We agree with their decision to use this time ahead to focus on their organization and the work ahead.” “We were disappointed with what we saw,” he said.
Clark meanwhile shared an 8-minute video to X in which he said the ad was “in poor taste,” and said the hate it had received was “very justified,” and apologized personally for the role he played in the advert. He said the Good Good Golf marketing team pitched the ad as inspired by the popular horror film Obsession, and that the character he plays in the ad would be “obsessed” with the golf club. Callaway Golf CEO Chip Brewer issued a separate apology for the ad on Saturday and said that it had been approved by Callaway and that “should never have happened.” Callaway said in a separate statement that it will commit $1 million to supporting organizations who work to prevent violence against women and support survivors.
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