Golf Ad Fail: Three Lessons in Clear Marketing From a Campaign That Missed

The short answer: The Good Good and Callaway Golf ad failed because it put a joke before the customer, and it needed context most viewers didn’t have. The lesson for any firm: work past the first idea, start with the customer’s problem, and make sure the message lands with zero explanation.

Let’s talk about bad advertising, shall we? One of my favorite pastimes.

Good Good and Callaway Golf caused an uproar in late August 2026 with an ad that fell flat on its face.

They’ve pulled it from everywhere they posted it, but you can still watch it. Here’s a link.

People everywhere are upset by the first 15 seconds, where a woman tries to grab a club and a guy runs over, knocks her to the ground, and tells her not to touch his driver.

Obviously, a depiction of a guy pushing a woman to the ground doesn’t really play well. To say the least.

But even beyond that interaction, the ad on its own is a tonally bizarre piece of advertising from start to finish.

It says absolutely nothing about the driver. It doesn’t really show why the guy is protective of it. It establishes zero credibility for the product it’s trying to sell.

I’ve read that it’s supposed to parody the new Obsession movie that was a huge hit at the time. But even on a level of parody, it doesn’t work.

A good parody should be something you immediately recognize so the subversion is evident. Again, this ad doesn’t do that clearly enough from the jump to make it effective.

So what can we take away from this?

If you’re reading this, you’re not at risk of creating an ad that shows aggression or violence toward women. So I don’t have to tell you not to do something that stupid.

But. Here’s what we CAN learn.

1. Workshop creative ideas from different angles. The first idea is rarely the best one, and this ad feels like a first idea.
2. Start with the customer. Make it clear that you’re providing a solution to a felt pain they experience. Don’t get clever at the expense of being clear.
3. Assume zero context for your message. Can someone understand what you’re trying to say without you explaining it? You want your communication to have a low cognitive load.

It’s like a bad joke: If you have to explain it, it’s not funny. If you have to explain your message, it’s not working.

There are so many ways the premise of this ad (a guy has a new driver, it’s great, he doesn’t want anyone else to touch it) could have been done well, especially with a humorous tilt.

Disheartening to see the lack of empathy (and quite frankly, intelligence) that went into making this one.

This first ran in Last Call #17 on August 28, 2026.

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