The Good Good ad controversy that has cost the YouTube golf group its Callaway partnership, its retail shelf space at multiple chains, and its title sponsorship of a PGA Tour event landed squarely in the lap of Joe Flannery, whose appointment as the company’s president was announced on the very same day the offending advertisement went live.
Good Good, which has built a YouTube following of 2.3 million subscribers around high-energy golf content, published its hiring announcement on 21 August, according to a document viewed by Business Insider. That was the same date the Callaway-sponsored advertisement was released, the clip that would set off the chain of commercial consequences now confronting the group.
What the ad showed and why it caused a fallout
The advertisement, which has since been pulled, showed Good Good cofounder Garrett Clark running towards a female member of the group, Alexis Miestowski, and shoving her to the ground. Standing over her, he says, ‘Do not touch my new driver,’ before picking up the club and hitting a shot. The content drew immediate criticism for appearing to normalise violence against women.
Callaway severed ties with Good Good on the Thursday following the advertisement’s release. The retail fallout extended well beyond that single partnership. Dick’s Sporting Goods and its subsidiary Golf Galaxy removed Good Good products from their shelves. PGA Tour Superstore and Target also pulled the brand’s merchandise from their online marketplaces, according to The Athletic. Good Good also stepped away as the title sponsor of a PGA Tour fall event, and creative agency This Will Be Good announced it had ended its relationship with the group, stating it had no involvement in the ad.
Good Good’s CEO, Matt Kendrick, told Front Office Sports that he had not viewed the advertisement before it ran and that the marketing team oversaw it. A person close to the company said two members of the marketing team were subsequently let go. Good Good had previously issued an apology for the ad’s content.
Clark breaks his silence as the Good Good ad controversy deepens
Clark, one of the cofounders at the centre of the clip, posted an 8-minute, 30-second video on social media in response to the furore, his first post on X in more than three months. The video drew 5 million views and 1,500 replies, according to The Athletic, underlining both the scale of the audience still engaged with Good Good’s principal figures and the intensity of the conversation around the group’s conduct.
Against that backdrop, Flannery’s entry into the role carries a very different character from the one described in the hiring announcement. Good Good had framed his appointment in expansive terms. ‘Joe is exactly the kind of driver Good Good needs as we enter our next chapter,’ Kendrick said in the announcement. ‘He has a track record of building iconic brands and scaling them with discipline, and he understands what it takes to lead in the next era of content and commerce. Our ambitions are big, and our leadership team now matches them.’
Flannery’s own statement at the time emphasised momentum. ‘Good Good is leading the future of golf,’ he said. ‘It’s built a content engine that’s second to none, cultivated a deep, fast-growing pool of talent, and launched an apparel business stepping up with that same creativity and ambition. It’s an incredible time to join the brand and build on that momentum.’
Flannery’s résumé spans Newell Brands, The North Face, Adidas, Nike, and Score Sports. The report of irony the situation has produced is that he also previously worked for Callaway, the same partner that has now cut ties with the group he was hired to lead forward. The hire was described as the result of an extensive search. In his new role, Flannery oversees all major functions of the core business, including branded sporting goods, merchandise, and the YouTube channel.
Before 21 August, Good Good had been regarded as a case study in creator-economy commercialisation, having raised $45 million and built a portfolio of retail partnerships. Flannery’s immediate task is now damage containment, shoring up the commercial relationships that remain and managing the reputational fallout, rather than the brand-building chapter the announcement had heralded.