Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick has publicly criticized Callaway following the golf brand's decision to sever ties with the popular YouTube channel over a controversial advertisement. The ad, which depicted a Good Good co-founder shoving a female golfer and shouting at her, led to widespread backlash and apologies from both companies.
In a series of late-night social media posts on Friday, Kendrick accused Callaway of approving the ad before asking Good Good to take the fall. He also suggested Good Good might pursue legal action against Callaway for their split. "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," Kendrick wrote.
When questioned about suing Callaway, Kendrick responded, "Not opposed." He also indicated openness to boycotting Callaway and agreed with a user who suggested the golf giant had set up his brand.
Despite his public criticism, Kendrick acknowledged that Good Good "made a terrible ad" and apologized for it. He had previously told The Wall Street Journal, "We fully own that we did make a mistake... As the CEO of the company, the buck stops with me and we should have had better processes in place." He added that the execution "missed the mark and didn’t come across the way that we wanted to, and in no way were we trying to make light of or support violence. But it came across that way, and that’s our fault."
The fallout from the ad has had significant consequences for Good Good. Callaway announced it was cutting ties with the channel "effective immediately" and pledged $1 million to organizations supporting victims of violence against women. Good Good has also stepped away as the sponsor of a PGA Tour event scheduled for November, leading to the event being renamed the Austin Championship. The Golf Channel has canceled an upcoming reality TV show, "Good Good x Big Break," which was set to feature the YouTube creators. This decision came after an initial postponement of the show's release.
The controversial advertisement was intended as a spoof of the horror movie 'Obsession' and featured Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark grabbing the Callaway Quantum driver and aggressively confronting co-founder Alexis Miestowski, who was on the ground. Clark later apologized in a video, calling the commercial "the worst ad known to man."