Brand controversies often have a shelf life similar to that of a dairy product—short-lived and quick to spoil. That is, unless the brand keeps adding to the mess.
That is the case with Good Good and Callaway Golf Co., which have been at the center of a social media backlash this week following a controversial marketing video for their co-branded golf club.
But a week into the controversy, the backlash is not dying down as both companies keep issuing statements on social media.
The Good Good-Callaway controversy: A timeline
The controversy follows a 60-second video shared on August 21 by both brands, which featured Good Good cofounder Garrett Clark shoving a woman to the ground. Clark then stood over the woman, who happened to be professional golfer Alexis Miestowski, and said, “Do not touch my driver.”
Users on social media were quick to call out the bizarre video as one that depicts violence against women, leading both brands to pull the video from their feeds.
Just over 24 hours after the video was first published, Good Good released its first apology, followed by one from Callaway the next day—which did not reference its involvement in the video’s production.
But the apologies weren’t enough to appease social media users, who called upon retailers to stop carrying the brands’ products, leading the CEOs of both companies to issue separate public apologies on August 25.
The next day, a cluster of retailers—including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, and the PGA Tour Superstore—appeared to begin pulling Callaway products from their websites. That same day, Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick took to social media to further apologize and called the video “the worst ad known to man.”
Statements on statements on statements
But by Thursday, tensions between Callaway and Good Good heightened, as Callaway said in a public statement that it ended its relationship with Good Good “effective immediately,” while also committing to donate $1 million in support of organizations helping prevent violence against women.
The same day, Good Good also stepped down from being a sponsor to a PGA golf tournament in Austin later this year.
Just as the fire seemed to be dying down, Good Good’s CEO decided to chime back into the conversation early Friday morning, as the brand appeared to have received a larger portion of the online backlash than Callaway.
“Interesting that @CallawayGolf asks us to make an ad, then approves it, then asks us to take the fall, then drops us in a coordinated media blitz, and covers it up by giving a million dollars away, thinking everyone will be ok with it,” Kendrick said in a 3:38 a.m. post to X.
Now the controversy, or more specifically Kendrick’s response, has become something of a joke for social media users, highlighting that the erratic responses only seem to be exacerbating the situation.
“The fact that the Good Good story was just finally about to die down and then their CEO was like, wait a second, let me restart this shit at 2 am, is very funny,” Barstool Sports’ Dan Katz said on X.