Good Good, Callaway, and the Need for More Women in Leadership
August 28, 2026
Last week, we were reminded yet again why we desperately need more women in leadership, when YouTube golfers turned popular golf brand Good Good released an ad to promote their new collaboration with Callaway Golf: A Good Good branded driver.
Unfortunately for both companies, the ad received instant backlash, eventually resulting in the limited edition driver being pulled, Good Good merchandise removed from store shelves, and lost sponsorships. Today, August 27th, 2026, Callaway officially announced the end of their partnership with Good Good, and Good Good announced they were withdrawing their sponsorship of an upcoming PGA Tour Championship.
Wow.
So how did a single ad released on YouTube and Instagram do so much damage? Let’s do a recap of what really happened before getting into the lessons I think we all need to learn from this.
What’s Inside
Before we dive in, here’s what you can expect as you read through this blog. We’re going to start with a recap of the Good Good and Callaway Golf ad, the reaction, the failed attempts at apologies, and ultimately the fall out that landed for both Good Good and Callaway. Once we’ve gotten through a run-through of everything that happened since the ad came out, I’m going to share my thoughts on what might have saved the situation. First, we need more women in leadership positions. Second, organizations shouldn’t handle marketing projects of this calibre internally, even if they have an in-house team. And, finally, my thoughts on the aftermath for both Good Good and Callaway, because even though it was a collaborative ad, the backlash hasn’t been equally distributed.
The Good Good and Callaway Golf Ad
Here’s a look at the ad, which was apparently supposed to be a parody of the horror film “Obsession”:
There’s no question, this is a terribly executed ad. Nobody understood the reference, the acting was horrible, and overall it just left people confused and absolutely outraged at the opening 15 seconds.
Not only does Good Good Founder Garrett Clark shove Alex Miestowski to the ground after she reaches for the driver, he aggressively stands over her and bluntly warns her not to touch his driver.
It didn’t take long for the internet to react. The outrage was swift, and within a couple of hours the ad was taken down. But what happened next is, in my opinion, where things really started to unravel for Callaway and Good Good.
The non-apology apologies
Everyone knows that how you handle a problem is generally more important than the initial mistake itself.
Unfortunately, what Good Good released wasn’t much of a statement at all.
“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. 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.”
And to (somehow) make matters even worse, Callaway seemed to brush the whole thing off altogether and even blamed Good Good for the ad. This begged the question, “did a company as big as Callaway collaborate with YouTube content creators, and not see or approve the ad before it went live?”
The non-apology apology from Callaway:
“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.”
Where are the Public Relations experts at these companies? Surely, both brands have marketing and PR teams that could have produced better apologies than that?
After Good Good received backlash for their statement, it too was swiftly removed…
And then they continued to post other, unrelated content.
The fall out was swift
The non-apologies, which seemed nothing more than an attempt to appease the masses and brush everything under the rug, only outraged people more.
To be so tone deaf as to use domestic violence to promote a product in today’s day and age, in a sport that’s long been seen as being a Boys Club and anti-female, and then act as if it wasn’t a big deal, was the ultimate misstep.
Golfers everywhere proclaimed they were replacing their Callaway clubs and products.
Dick’s Sporting Goods removed Good Good apparel from their shelves.
Golf Galaxy withdrew their sponsorship of a reality show on the Golf Channel, called “Big Break x Good Good”, resulting in a week-long delay of the premier so Golf Galaxy branding could be removed.
Good Good was slated to be the title sponsor of the PGA Tour’s Good Good Championship coming up in November, and PGA Tour CEO and commissioner Brian Rolapp said he was disappointed by Good Good’s initial response to the controversy.
“I think what we saw was concerning, [and] is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values,” Rolapp said. “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.” He called it a “fluid situation”.
Yikes.
Finally, on Tuesday, Callaway released an official statement from the CEO.
“To our customers, employees, stakeholders, and golfers everywhere:
Last week, Good Good Golf and Callaway posted a video to promote a co-branded driver. While the video was produced by Good Good, it was approved by Callaway prior to posting. That approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter seriously.
As we deal with the consequences of our mistake and complete our investigations, I want to make it clear that we sincerely apologize for the video. The content was inappropriate and does not reflect our values. To be clear: We are unequivocally against discrimination, domestic violence, or threatening behaviour of any kind.
As soon as we recognized the seriousness of the issue, it was escalated appropriately, and the video was immediately removed. Preliminary statements were issued by both Good Good and Callaway, and now this statement has followed. We are also conducting both internal and external investigations and have already made changes to our approval process aimed at ensuring this will never happen again.
We believe we have been a positive force for diversity and inclusion in the game of golf. This video was completely inconsistent with that. I assure you that we will learn from this and do better.
Humbly,
Chip Brewer – CEO, Callaway Golf.”
Too little, too late
Unfortunately, Callaway’s long delayed statement didn’t even acknowledge women. It was the first time they officially admitted the video had indeed gone to them for approval. And again we see the generic statement, “this content does not reflect our values”.
48 hours later, Callaway issued another statement.
“Over the last several days, we have listened and reflected deeply on the hurt and disappointment caused by the video we reposted. We heard from individuals who shared personal experiences related to violence against women, and their stories were powerful reminders that this issue touches the lives of far too many people. Unequivocally, violence against women is unacceptable and should never be trivialized, normalized, or used as entertainment.
We have now completed our review of this matter and are taking the following actions:
- Callaway has ended its relationship with Good Good, effective immediately.
- In this instance, our content review process was not comprehensive enough. We have taken appropriate internal corrective actions and significantly strengthened our approval procedures to help ensure this does not happen again.
- We are committing $1 million to support organizations working to prevent violence against women, provide resources to survivors, and advance education and awareness efforts.
These actions do not undo the harm caused or excuse our role in it. We sincerely apologize to everyone who was hurt, disappointed, or offended by this incident.
One of Callaway Golf’s core values is to be a positive influence, both in the game of golf and in our communities. We are further strengthening our commitment to these initiatives, and this will be an ongoing focus in our company. We are committed to learning from this incident and helping ensure that golf is a place where everyone feels respected, valued, and welcome.”
On the same day, Good Good released its own statement:
“After thoughtful discussions with the PGA Tour and careful reflection, we have decided to step away as sponsor of the tour event in Austin this fall.
We recognize that we have work to do as an organization, and our focus right now is on our team, our culture and ensuring we learn from this situation.
We are grateful for our relationship with the PGA Tour and appreciate their partnership over the years. We remain committed to earning back trust, and we hope to work together again in the future.”
The evening prior, Good Good Founder Garrett Clark had posted a 9-minute video addressing the incident, which you can watch here.
A Public Relations Misstep
Yes, the video was horrendous. But for two major brands that found themselves in hot water, the response was equally as bad.
It really begs the question: How did we get here? What could have been done differently?
And I think this is where the clear lessons are that all organizations need to take into account to ensure they don’t end up in the same boat.
First and foremost, we need more women in leadership roles
Not everyone sees what is wrong with the ad. There is a LOT of discourse about this being ‘a joke’, or just locker room talk, or women being ‘soft’ and not able to take a joke.
There’s even speculation that Callaway designed this ad intentionally to sell to the male market who would buy a new driver just out of spite because of the backlash they knew would come. I hope that is not true.
Including women in leadership roles and giving them an active voice would have almost guaranteed this script would never have made it to production. The shove aside, the way Garrett Clark stands over Alex Miestowski is aggressive, intimidating, and alienating to an entire consumer market.
Even if the concept of “Spoof of “Obsession”” was approved, one look at this scene by any woman would have resulted in a re-write, and the dialogue would be around how terrible the ad was, not around the promotion of domestic violence and violence against women.
This is why diversity programs are in place. Callaway and Good Good may have inadvertently exposed the locker room talk their teams are comfortable with, but having a more diverse creative and leadership team would have, for better or worse, kept that behind closed doors. Diversity programs save companies money because they bring more voices and perspectives to the table and prevent costly fall out like what we saw this week.
Second, organizations need to outsource creative work to agencies
I know you probably think I’m biased as the owner of a marketing agency myself, but third party teams bring not only an outside perspective, but they usually have a better understanding of the audience, human behaviour, and how things will be perceived (not just the intent).
In addition, third parties have an easier time saying ‘no’ to those who need to hear it. The founder of Good Good starred in the video. If this ad concept was his idea, or even if he was simply ‘on board’ with it, who is going to stand up and say no? Being surrounded by Yes Men is a sure way to run into problems. Agencies are paid explicitly to bring their expertise and not be Yes Men.
Callaway Golf is getting off easy
Good Good is a small group of Bros, who started a golf channel on YouTube in 2020 and grew to become popular content creators and influencers. They do that with attention-grabbing videos. Getting attention is what they are good at.
Creating an ad to sell a driver in collaboration with Callaway Golf should have been outsourced; and I hold Callaway accountable for that.
Callaway should have known better. A lot of the fallout of this has landed on Good Good, deserved or not. But let’s not forget that Callaway also approved the ad.
Callaway also has a leadership team of men, FYI.
Not only did Callaway approve the ad, but their first response wasn’t even an apology. It was simply thanking Good Good for realizing the mistake they had made, and taking down the ad.
Callaway is an almost $3-Billion dollar company. They should have both an in-house team of expert, experienced marketers as well as trusted agencies on speed dial to help with this kind of promotion. Why did Callaway leave this in the hands of Good Good?
How did the creative get approved on Callaway’s end before it was posted? Again, women need to be given seats at these tables. Both Callaway and Good Good said the video went against their brand values. And while that may be true — the public brand image both companies have built are inclusive of women in golf — it clearly wasn’t against the values of the individuals involved throughout the entire process.
That’s that locker-room talk sneaking out to the public again.
Callaway’s statement said it has taken measures to change their internal approval process. I’d like to know what those changes are.
Are women being hired? What processes specifically are being changed?
Where do we go from here
A terrible idea concocted by two teams of men was made much, much worse by their actions in the aftermath. I almost feel bad for Good Good; at this point, it seems like nothing they do will make anyone happy, and that’s because it took so long for them to take the mistake seriously to begin with.
Callaway, on the other hand, is getting off light when I actually believe they should be getting more pushback given the status their brand carries and how big of a corporation they are.
Ultimately, it’s a shame all around and it all could have been avoided by getting more voices in the room when the idea was being created, and by involving public relations firms immediately after the backlash started, to help create meaningful apologies that felt genuine.
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