Good Good Golf, one of the largest golf courses YouTube channels and new media brands, is facing backlash after claims an ad glorified violence against women.
Last week, Good Good, a collective of social media creators and golfers, launched a collaboration with the golf equipment giant Callaway with a limited edition driver and balls with the Good Good logo.
To promote the partnership, Good Good — which has 2.3 million YouTube subscribers — released a 56-second ad on Friday that begins with one of its female members, Alexis Miestowski, reaching into a golf bag to pull out the limited-edition driver.
As she reaches for the club, one of the group’s co-founders, Garrett Clark, runs up to her and pushes her to the ground. He then stands over her and says, “Don’t touch my new driver,” before picking him up himself and shooting him.
The ad quickly sparked a backlash, with thousands of negative comments on social media platforms. In many of those comments, people said the video made light of violence against women. Many of Clark’s recent Instagram posts have been flooded with comments criticizing the ad.
A prominent golf account on
Nicole Rae, senior social media director at golf media brand Skratch, said the video “endorses violence against women in the most terrifying and most threatening way.”
“This is a terrible look for them and for Callaway. Very disappointing,” she added.
The video was quickly removed, and on Saturday, Good Good released an apology statement saying the ad “depicted actions that do not align with our values as a brand.”
Late Monday, Callaway also apologized for the video and said that while the brand was not involved in its production, it greenlighted its publication.
This video was “completely inconsistent” with Callaway’s commitment to diversity, CEO Chip Brewer said.
“I assure you that we will learn from this and do better,” he added.
Good Good and Callaway did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The fallout continued throughout the week.
Late Tuesday, Golf Channel said it would delay the broadcast of a new season of the golf reality show Big Break, which is co-produced with Good Good, for a week after a sponsor requested that the brand name be removed.
The new season of the show, in which aspiring professional golfers compete in various challenges, is slated to feature several members of Good Good. The Golf Channel did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
On Tuesday, a mention of the club in the now-deleted ad was removed from Callaway’s website.
As of Wednesday morning, it was still on sale directly from Good Good for $650.
Golf’s new media landscape
Former Masters winner Jon Rahm is one of the most prominent golfers to use Callaway products. He was not involved in the Good Good video. Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Good Good is one of a number of new media brands that have benefited from the surge in popularity of golf since the COVID pandemic, which has seen social media play an increasingly important role. subscribers to commercial success.
The collective raised $45 million in funding last year from investment firm Creator Sports Capital. In July, it announced a commercial partnership with another collective of online creators, Dude Perfect.
In addition to creating long-form YouTube content – which in some cases runs longer than many feature films – Good Good sells golf apparel and has sponsored a number of golf events. It has collaborated with Callaway in the past, as well as with others major brands, including YetiMountain Dew and GMC.
