It is one of the oldest rules of advertising, predating the digital age and the holding companies and possibly the automobile: when selling a product, do not show a man shoving a woman to the ground.
Callaway Golf and Good Good Golf, the YouTube-born golf media company, have removed a social media advertisement and issued public apologies after the spot drew sharp criticism for depicting what viewers saw as violence against women. In the ad, Garrett Clark, a co-founder of Good Good Golf, pushes Alexis Miestowski, a former Division I golfer, to the ground after she reaches for his new driver.
(One might think that a brief review of the creative would have caught this. One would be correct.)
David Brewer, the chief executive of Topgolf Callaway Brands, said in a statement on X that the company had already made changes to its approval process and would conduct internal and external investigations, with the stated goal of "ensuring this will never happen again."
"To be clear: We are unequivocally against discrimination, domestic violence or threatening behavior of any kind," Mr. Brewer wrote. "We believe we have been a positive force for diversity and inclusion in the game of golf. This video was completely inconsistent with that. I assure you that we will learn from this and do better."
The statement from Good Good Golf's leadership followed an earlier post from the company over the weekend. Representatives for both Callaway and Good Good Golf did not respond to requests for additional comment.
The episode is a reminder that the approval processes at major brands, which have grown elaborate in the era of social media content, are only as effective as the people operating them. In this case, the process appears to have taken a mulligan.
Original story published in campaignlive.com: "‘Mistakes were made’: Callaway Golf and Good Good Golf pull and apologize for ad | Campaign US"