Good Good chief executive Matt Kendrick has left his position at the YouTube golf media group alongside president Joe Flannery following an advertising scandal.
Business Insider reported on Wednesday night that both executives had departed the Texas-based brand. Their departures follow intense criticism of a commercial produced for a branded driver that critics said depicted domestic violence.
The backlash has severely impacted Good Good, which has lost major endorsement deals and media opportunities. Equipment manufacturer Callaway ended its official partnership with the group, retailers removed products from store shelves, and a scheduled television project with the Golf Channel was cancelled prior to broadcast. Good Good also withdrew from its title sponsorship of an upcoming tournament in Austin.
Corporate resignations and sponsor fallout
Personnel changes have extended beyond Good Good to its corporate partners. Alex Upegui, the director of content and production at Callaway, left the equipment manufacturer earlier this week. Upegui, who had held the position since 2023, is believed to have been the highest-ranking Callaway official possessing authority to approve the commercial.
Within Good Good, further executive changes accompanied the chief executive departure. Jeffrey Lefkovits, the vice president of brand and marketing for Good Good, is also believed to have been fired in connection with the production.
Good Good Golf operates as an online content group and lifestyle brand created by a collective of social media influencers. The group built a massive following on YouTube by sharing golf challenges and matchplay videos, eventually securing commercial partnerships with established industry entities such as Callaway Golf Company, a major global manufacturer of golf equipment headquartered in Carlsbad, California.
Details of the Callaway Quantum advertisement
The controversy stems from a full 60-second commercial created to promote the Good Good-branded Callaway Quantum driver. The video was intended to operate as a spoof of the popular horror film Obsession, portraying members of the content team becoming hypnotised or possessed by the golf equipment.
The opening scene of the advertisement showed Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark rushing toward fellow group member Alexis Miestowski. Clark was filmed body-checking Miestowski to the ground as she reached for the club.
With Miestowski lying flat on her back on the ground, Clark stood directly over her and angrily said: "Do not touch my new driver." The remainder of the ad showed other members of the content team becoming possessed by the golf club before the video concluded.
Viewers, social media users, and corporate partners condemned the sequence for depicting physical violence against a woman. The video triggered widespread public criticism across digital platforms, prompting calls for sponsors to re-evaluate their commercial ties with the media collective.
Corporate investigations and contract termination
Corporate sponsors moved quickly to respond to the public outcry. In an official statement issued on August 25, Callaway chief executive Chip Brewer announced that the manufacturer was "conducting both internal and external investigations and have already made changes to our approval process aimed at ensuring this will never happen again."
Two days after Brewer's statement, Callaway officially announced it was severing ties with the golf brand. The equipment maker acknowledged flaws in its review system, stating: "In this instance, our content review process was not comprehensive enough. We have taken appropriate internal corrective actions and significantly strengthened our approval procedure to help ensure this does not happen again."
Following the commercial's removal and the subsequent fallout, Garrett Clark issued a public apology video addressing the group's audience. Clark acknowledged the severe misjudgement involved in making the commercial, describing it as the "worst ad known to man."
Prior to his departure, Matt Kendrick also accepted responsibility on behalf of the company. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal last week, Kendrick stated: "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."
Kendrick told the publication that the company never intended to promote harm, adding: "Obviously 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."
Late night social media posts and retraction
Despite the formal public apologies, internal tensions spilled into public view in the early hours of Friday morning. Kendrick used an old social media account at 3:38 a.m. ET to publish a series of posts attacking Callaway over its handling of the split, suggesting that Good Good had been set up.
In his late-night message, Kendrick 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."
When a social media user suggested that Good Good should "sue Callaway for every single penny they're owed plus damages," Kendrick responded: "Not opposed." Kendrick also told one social media user that he was "down to boycott @CallawayGolf" and said he "agreed" that the golf giant had set up his brand. However, the chief executive admitted that Good Good had "made a terrible ad," adding: "We apologize for that."
By Friday morning, Kendrick appeared to have deleted several of the social media posts as the backlash intensified.
Internal marketing approvals and future outlook
Kendrick subsequently shed new light on the scandal during an interview with Front Office Sports. The chief executive revealed that he did not see the commercial before it was released, but stated that Good Good had "removed people responsible for the ad."
Explaining how the video reached publication, Kendrick told Front Office Sports: "Our marketing team saw it. Callaway said they approved it, and that went through their marketing team, as well. So, both sides saw it." He added: "I didn’t see it initially when it went up, either. But my team informed me that they had pulled it down and then I saw it. And after I saw it, I was like: 'This isn’t acceptable.'"
During the interview, Kendrick rowed back on his apparent threats of legal action against Callaway, clarifying that the company was not pursuing litigation. Kendrick insisted: "We’re not thinking about that. It was just off the cuff responding to a comment."
Reversing the tone of his early-morning posts, Kendrick expressed appreciation for Callaway, the Golf Channel, and the PGA Tour, the organization that sanctions elite professional golf tournaments in North America. On Callaway's decision to sever ties, Kendrick told Front Office Sports: "I understand everyone’s position and I get it. We loved being with Callaway for a long time. They were nothing but great to us the entire time we were together. I just hate that this is how it ended."
Kendrick also praised the handling of the situation by professional golf officials and broadcast partners, stating that he had "nothing but good things to say" about the PGA Tour and adding that he "appreciated everything [Golf Channel] has done for us."
