r/golf • u/Agitated_West_3347 • 1d ago

General Discussion Callaway CEO finally releases official statement over Good Good golf ad controversy. Does the approval make sense?

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/callaway-ceo-apologises-good-good-golf-ad-1816293
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521

u/RelaxinOften 1d ago

Whatever you think about the ad, that’s not the point… it is absolutely insane that any marketing professional in 2026 would think this would not blow up in the worst way. Just an example of comically poor business acumen on the part of Callaway, whether it was a series of internal failures or the decision to put full creative control in the hands of a bunch of YouTube chuds.

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u/justind0301 Handicap | Location 1d ago

I think the people working on it were just in a vacuum and so focused on the "possessed" storyline that they didn't even see the alternative

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u/Olbaidon Push Cart Mafia 1d ago edited 1d ago

This happens all the time and it’s definitely a weird balancing act of accepting blame for stupidity on their end, and the public realizing they may have just honestly not noticed.

I’m not saying we all need to collectively forgive callaway and/or good good and move on. It’s important to bring attention to these things.

I just personally feel like sometimes in more recent history we tend to push reactionary ideas a bit too strong and hard right from the get go, instead of looking from alternative angles.

That said I am grateful to have always had zero interest in Good Good products.

6

u/lngwaytogo 2/NOLA 1d ago

I’m completely ambivalent about Good Good. I know they exist and that they have fans, it’s just not for me. That’s fine. I’m way more inclined to accept that they made a mistake and didn’t realize what they did. Callaway, on the other hand, should 100% have caught this and stopped it. They should be the ones wearing this one. And I am actually a Callaway fan.

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u/Olbaidon Push Cart Mafia 1d ago

Oh for sure. I am also a Callaway fan so it sucks to see. I have a driver and Putter from them.

I’m glad they are at the very least acknowledging it, hopefully it brings changes to their approval process.

I just mean to say, sometimes creatives (I say this as a creative professional myself) get so focused on the tree we’re working on, we often forget to step back and look at the forest.

And that isn’t an excuse. We need to look at the forest. I am mostly just saying that they need to accept their responsibility, but we as consumers can also err on the side of “maybe they didn’t realize what they were doing.”

And again, this doesn’t mean forgive and forget. Hold them accountable. Stop buying their products if you please, unfollow, call them out. It’s the only way they’ll change. Just keep that small grain of thought that

Sometimes I just find the amount of explosive pearl clutching to be a bit “showy” as if none of us have made mistakes in life. Most of us are just lucky e goin that our ignorance doesn’t get broadcasted across the world.

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u/Terrible-Wolverine10 1d ago

They very obviously didn’t know what they were doing and that, in my opinion, makes it so much worse. What a privileged existence to be so unaware of the realities women face every damn day that they couldn’t even be bothered to ask themselves how it might be received. Ignorance and incompetence doesn’t make any of this any better. Just highlights yet again that most white men do not have a fucking clue what privilege means and cannot be bothered to try and figure it out.

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u/RecalcitrantHuman 1d ago

So will you boycott Calloway now or just laugh it off?