This whole thing feels like 2020. A bad ad gets posted. The internet does what the internet does. And then every brand in the vicinity performs a ritual sacrifice so they can announce that they have “listened,” “reflected” and “done better.” Then they give some money to a cause to do their full penance.
It’s like a terrible flashback. And just goes to show that woke struggle sessions are not over.
Callaway commissioned an ad from internet sports media brand Good Good Golf. Callaway approved the ad, and presumably paid for it. Callaway CEO Chip Brewer even admitted as much: Good Good produced it, Callaway signed off, and “that approval should never have happened.”
Then, in pure passive aggression, Callaway shifted the tone. They completed a “review of their approval process” (deemed not good enough to allow this heinous ad to get through — my words) and further apologized for an ad they “reposted.” No, it was jointly created and posted.
Then Callaway ended the partnership with Good Good “effective immediately,” pledged $1 million to organizations that prevent violence against women and promised to strengthen review procedures.
Then in a cascade of bad news for Good Good Golf, Dick’s and Golf Galaxy yanked their merch from shelves and websites. Golf Galaxy pulled its branding from Big Break x Good Good (Big Break is a reality show on the Golf Channel); Golf Channel delayed the premiere and then canceled the season. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp called the video “concerning” and Good Good’s first apology “defensive and late.”
Good Good then “stepped away” (obviously they were pushed out) as title sponsor of the November Austin event. The Tour agreed they should “focus on their organization.” Retailers including Target and PGA Tour Superstore followed.
This brand is toast, guys. It’s a little sad. Just because they are getting dragged so intensely and brutally.
Here’s the top line on this internet sensation of a brand: Started in 2020. Generates revenue of about $4M — reportedly. Which is kind of nothing really after 6 years. Has been scaling due to a massive $45M investment, led by Creator Sports Capital, an investment firm founded by former YouTube executive Benjamin Grubbs and investment management exec Brian Kabot.
Additional investment came from Manhattan West Private Equity, Sunflower Bank, Omaha Productions (the production company founded by Peyton Manning) and an additional 50 individual and institutional investors.
$45M is a lot of money for a brand generating $4M in revenue. It’s like an insane amount really, if the $4M revenue estimate on the internet is correct.
Now that Good Good Golf’s prospects are sinking fast, I have no idea what it means regarding this investment. Do they have all the money already? Can the investors pull out? Not put it all in? Was it in phases? Who knows. But the potential seems to be draining by the minute.
My view: it’s dumb. If you believed in this goofy brand and its ability to make golf younger and hipper and cooler, that is still true. Though if Good Good is cut off from mass distribution of their product (media and clothing) their chances at making it are becoming slimmer by the second. Though there is a world in which their cancellation drives massive Direct To Consumer interest and they make a big comeback. Then all the legacy brands will flock to them again. It’s all transactional. Same as it ever was.
But here’s the thing — nobody meant to advocate for violence against women. It was a clumsy parody of a horror movie that landed like a brick. Pull it. Apologize. Move on. Instead we got the full 2020 cancellation kit: coordinated distancing, a seven-figure donation as moral cover and a smaller partner left holding the bag.
And now, Matt Kendrick (co-founder and CEO of Good Good) is crashing out on X, and I don’t blame him. Early Friday he posted:
“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. 30 for 39 will be legendary.”
If Callaway actually asked them to take the fall, then wow. Awful.
Kendrick later added they made “a terrible ad. No denying that. We apologize for that.”
He’s not wrong about the mechanics. Callaway had as much to do with this as Good Good. CEO of Callaway Chip Brewer accepted some responsibility. Then the $2 billion company treated the fly-by-night partner like a disposable crisis asset. Which they kind of are.
That’s the part Kendrick isn’t getting. Callaway is synonymous with golf. No one is kicking them to the curb. Good Good is an influencer brand that took off when everyone was stuck at home during covid and the industry leaned in, hoping YouTube golf would make the game cooler and younger. Throw in some influencers and golf challenges and voilà! Golf is young and cool. Kind of.
It worked for a minute. But it was a sugar high.
Influencer content is disposable by design. The brand is inessential just like the influencer content. There is always more where that came from.
If Good Good disappears, I suspect people will feel a flicker of sympathy and then buy a different hat. Or watch different videos on a different platform. I could be wrong. Maybe, out of sympathy, people will flock to Good Good. We shall see.
I do kind of feel bad for the guy. But I think he’s mistaking his role in the golf world. They courted him in order to chase youth. But they don’t need him. They can either go back to the old stuffy golf way or find a new young hip player or brand to partner with. Either works for them.
Kendrick seems to think he built a platform so indispensable that the industry will be sorry when it’s gone. He got lucky in a moment when no one had anything else to do. That’s not really genius but it is super smart timing.
Watching him light the rest of the house on fire from the porch is grimly entertaining because he’s right and I stand with him in that. I’ve wanted to do the same in various moments.
But no one is indispensable. I say this from experience. I spent more than 2 decades at a brand and rose the ranks. I left. And they are fine. A 150 year old brand was not going to crash without me. And I never thought otherwise.
Callaway used Good Good as the fall guy. Which is totally crappy. Kendrick is just wrong (I think) that anyone will miss the brand enough to reverse course.
The institutions will keep the legacy manufacturer and toss the meme/golf tricks company.
That’s not justice. It’s just how this works.
From Callaway's post: "As soon as we recognized the seriousness of the issue..." = 'we didn't really care about the ad until people started complaining.'
"The buck stops at the lowest possible level we can push it to and get away with." - Corporate Executive, with spotless desk