Good Good Callaway Credit: Callaway

YouTube golf is all the rage these days and has rapidly entered the mainstream. Even LeBron James has now launched his own golf channel. But a controversial ad from one of the most popular channels, Good Good, has drawn swift backlash.

Good Good is arguably the biggest success story in YouTube golf with over 2 million subscribers. The channel was founded in 2020 and features several personalities, many of whom have gone on to individual notoriety and success. And in a true sign of the times, the PGA Tour fall series event in Austin, Texas, will be sponsored by the company.

The top YouTube golf channels attract major sponsors given their influence and popularity. However, a recent spot for Callaway clearly missed the mark.

The spot was shared on the Callaway social media platform and featured one of the Good Good founders, Garrett Clark, tackling a female golfer who attempted to pull a new Callaway driver from his golf bag. Clark then stands over the woman, sternly saying, “Do not touch my new driver.”

While the ad was deleted after swift condemnation, it was recorded by others in the golf universe for posterity and further criticism.

As you might imagine, nobody in the golf world, or anyone with common sense, thought this advertisement was a good idea.

The fact that a channel with now over 2 million subscribers, and that now sponsors a PGA Tour event, thought this was a good idea is truly astounding. The fact that a brand like Callaway posted it is staggering. And the fact that not a single person intervened in the process of the design, filming, acting, producing, or marketing of this is unconscionable.

What exactly is the intended message here? Violence against women is just fine as long as it is selfishly protecting your new Callaway driver like a complete maniac? Surely the YouTube golf movement and the entire sport have to be better than this, right?

It’s hard to imagine a 15-second ad undoing everything that Good Good golf has accomplished to this point, but at the very least, the PGA Tour will have some serious questions to answer about their partnership after this PR nightmare.

UPDATE: Good Good released a statement, saying it sincerely apologizes for the ad and that it didn’t “align with our values as a brand.”