Callaway has ended its relationship with Good Good Golf amid mounting fallout from an advert that many believe made light of violence against women.
The golf equipment manufacturer announced the decision on Thursday, cutting ties with one of the world’s most popular YouTube sports channels effective immediately. Callaway also said it would donate $1m to organizations working to prevent violence against women and support survivors of domestic violence.
Good Good Golf co-founder Garrett Clark apologized in a video on Wednesday night, saying he hopes “we can move on” amid continued fallout from an advert that many believe made light of violence against women.
The video, posted on 21 August, was meant to promote a driver it had produced alongside Callaway. It showed Clark shoving Good Good personality Alexis Miestowski to the ground as she went to pull the Callaway club out of his bag. Clark then said, “Do not touch my new driver,” while standing over her.
Good Good is one of the world’s most popular YouTube sports channels and has been credited with bringing golf to a younger audience.
The ad drew immediate backlash with claims it depicted violence against women, and Good Good quickly removed it from social media. The company issued an apology on Saturday, and Clark added a personal apology in a video posted to his social media Wednesday night.
Callaway, which had reposted the ad to its own social media accounts, acknowledged on Thursday that its internal review process had not been comprehensive enough and said it had taken “appropriate internal corrective actions” and strengthened its approval process.
“Over the past several days, we have listened and reflected deeply on the hurt and disappointment caused by the video we reposted,” Callaway said in a statement. “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.”
Clark also apologized. “I personally want to apologize for playing a role in the skit, in this ad, at the magnitude that I did,” Clark said. “And then on Good Good’s behalf and on Good Good marketing team’s behalf, I wanted to say an apology as well because this is not at all what we stand for, the way that this ad was received is not how Good Good is, and it’s not what we stand for, once again.
“I want everyone to know that I do not support [domestic violence] abuse or any of that of any kind.“
The fallout from the ad has been swift and could continue to reverberate throughout the golf industry.
Golf Channel postponed the premiere of the reality show Big Break x Good Good by a week after a sponsor requested that its branding be removed. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy are among the retailers to have pulled Good Good merchandise from their in-store shelves and online.
Good Good is also the title sponsor of a PGA Tour event scheduled for November in Austin, Texas. Tour commissioner Brian Rolapp was asked ahead of this week’s Tour Championship whether the controversy could affect that sponsorship.
“It’s a bit of a fluid situation,” he said. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation and see how it develops.”
In his Wednesday video of more than eight minutes, Clark outlined how the ad was produced, sharing behind-the-scenes footage showing that he did not strike Miestowski, who played golf at Indiana University and contributes to Good Good’s women-focused YouTube channel.
Clark added that he was “cringing” once he saw the ad, and condemned those who have sent negative messages to Miestowski on social media.
“Good Good messed up by promoting a very poor-taste ad, but hopefully you guys can forgive Good Good as well as myself for being a part of it,” Clark said. “Hopefully we can move on and grow the women’s side of golf, because that is one of our huge, huge goals.”