Backlash over Good Good Golf ad goes too far as stores pull merchandise, PGA Tour event potentially canceled

Just a few days ago, Good Good Golf was viewed as one of the largest brand names among young people starting their interest in golf.

Unsurprisingly, major golf brands were quick to partner with the YouTube channel and its personalities. They have a partnership with Callaway Golf to develop putters, golf clubs and golf balls. Their branded apparel is carried by major retailers, including WorldWide Golf Shops outlets such as Roger Dunn in Southern California. It is also sold online through retailers such as Target and at most Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy locations.

Or was.

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Good Good became the center of controversy in golf over the past week thanks to an ad they made to promote a branded version of Callaway's new driver. The ad was meant to be a parody of the hit movie "Obsession," but was very poorly conceived and executed. In the ad, Garrett Clark, one of the founders of Good Good, shoves a woman, Alexis Miestowski, to the ground and says "do not touch my new driver."

Without question, it was a bad ad, made in poor taste, that should not have been released. And the backlash started almost immediately. Fans blasted it for depicting a man shoving a woman to the ground. It was pulled down. The group issued a statement saying it wasn't "aligned with our values."

"We posted a video to our channels that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand," the statement said. "We have since taken that content down. And sincerely apologize. Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all, and we will continue to ensure that is our mission moving forward."

Callaway golf initially let Good Good take the blame, saying they were "disappointed" in the video. Then, at 1 a.m. Eastern, issued another statement confirming that the club manufacturer had approved the ad's release, an unsurprising though important admission.

CALLAWAY ADMITS IT APPROVED CONTROVERSIAL GOOD GOOD WOMAN-SHOVING AD IN LATE-NIGHT STATEMENT

As a result of the controversy, the debut of "Big Break X Good Good," a new show set to air on Golf Channel, was delayed after title sponsor Golf Galaxy reportedly requested that its name be removed from the broadcast. That was just the start.

Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday that Dick's Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy and the PGA Tour Superstore had pulled the company's merchandise from their product shelves. There are rumors that the Good Good sponsored PGA Tour event, the Good Good Championship at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Canyons Course in Austin, Texas, could be canceled.

In fact, new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said as much this week. Addressing the ad and response, Rolapp said he was disappointed in how it played out.

"I think initially no," Rolapp said referring to how the company handled the backlash. "I think what we saw was concerning, is clearly not aligned with PGA TOUR values. We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late. But I think the responses are getting better. I think we've seen some things this morning, we've had some conversations with them, so we'll continue to monitor and work with them going forward. But no, we were disappointed with what we saw."

When asked about the future event, Rolapp described it as a "fluid situation."

"I think I mentioned before, it's a bit of a fluid situation," Rolapp said. "We were disappointed at first. It sounds like in the last 24 hours they've made some progress. We'll continue to monitor the situation and see how it develops."

And that is where this has all gone way, way too far.

Again, it is not up for debate that the ad was awful and should never have been conceived, filmed, edited, or approved. The fact that so many steps had to happen, and that so many had to approve it at each step of the way, and nobody pointed out how bad it looked is bewildering and indefensible. Obviously, men should not be shoving women to the ground. Even in a parody of a movie, it was bad.

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That said, pulling their merchandise off the shelves? Canceling shows? Pulling down title sponsorships? As if they were endorsing domestic violence or aggression towards women? Or saying women shouldn't play golf, when they literally have a YouTube channel called "Good Good Girls"?

Clark posted a lengthy video to X on Wednesday addressing the concept behind it, apologizing for his role in it, and explaining the pitch they received from the marketing team. He took accountability for how bad the ad looks, repeatedly says that it was a bad idea from the start, and confirms, of course, that he didn't actually hit a woman.

Temporarily delaying the release of a show for a week in response to this ad? Sure. Acting as though Good Good needs to be permanently shunned by the golf world for it? That's absurd. Young boys and girls are not going to stop watching Good Good Golf because of a bad advertisement. YouTube Golf continues to grow, and while many golf purists hate it, there's immense value to it. New audiences become interested in the sport, then many start watching PGA Tour events or other golf competitions and become potential lifelong fans.

Yes, they made a mistake, but moving past the "cancel culture" obsession was supposed to end this type of hysterical corporate overreaction. For Rolapp, it's not surprising, coming from the woke factory that is the modern NFL, but for the other retailers, it's ridiculous.

What's the punishment for Callaway? Is Golf Galaxy and the PGA Tour Superstore going to pull their products from the shelves for approving the ad's release? Of course not, because Callaway generates far too much money for those companies through club and golf ball sales. That's how you know this is performative; there's no consequence for the biggest name involved here.

Does Good Good deserve criticism for the ad? Yes, absolutely. It's objectively terrible, by their own admission. Should Good Good be permanently shunned from golf now? No, of course not.