How This $45 Million Golf Startup Lost a Major Sponsor Over a 15-Second Viral Clip: ‘It Was a Huge Mistake’
Good Good spent years building a family-friendly brand. One commercial undid a chunk of goodwill in a matter of days.
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Garrett Clark and his friends built Good Good into one of golf’s biggest media companies with funny YouTube videos and viral stunts. This week, one commercial landed the company in the rough, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company partnered with Callaway on an ad meant to spoof the horror movie Obsession, showing Clark so attached to his new driver that he wouldn’t let anyone touch it. A 15-second clip showing him shoving a woman who works with Good Good when she reaches for the club went viral. Critics said it promoted violence against women.
The fallout came fast. Callaway ended its yearslong partnership with Good Good. The PGA Tour said the company stepped away as a sponsor of its own titled event. Golf Channel scrapped a planned reality series, and major retailers dropped Good Good’s apparel, which makes up about 70% of the company’s revenue.
“It doesn’t feel like us,” Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick said. “Our ads are always fun, they’re upbeat… And we know that this did not make people feel good.”
Good Good had built serious momentum before this. The company raised $45 million last year, launched its own apparel line and had partnered with stars like Stephen Curry and Bryson DeChambeau. Kendrick pushed back on Callaway’s response, writing on X that the brand approved the ad before asking Good Good to take the blame.
Good Good says it’s donating driver sales to a women’s organization and adding new review protocols. “It was a huge mistake,” Kendrick said. “We’re sorry, and we want to do better.”
Garrett Clark and his friends built Good Good into one of golf’s biggest media companies with funny YouTube videos and viral stunts. This week, one commercial landed the company in the rough, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company partnered with Callaway on an ad meant to spoof the horror movie Obsession, showing Clark so attached to his new driver that he wouldn’t let anyone touch it. A 15-second clip showing him shoving a woman who works with Good Good when she reaches for the club went viral. Critics said it promoted violence against women.
The fallout came fast. Callaway ended its yearslong partnership with Good Good. The PGA Tour said the company stepped away as a sponsor of its own titled event. Golf Channel scrapped a planned reality series, and major retailers dropped Good Good’s apparel, which makes up about 70% of the company’s revenue.
