Good Good Golf co-founder Garrett Clark has broken his silence following days of backlash surrounding the brand’s controversial and since-deleted advertisement.
Clark addressed the controversy in an 8-minute, 30-second video posted to his social media pages Wednesday night, apologizing for his involvement and acknowledging that much of the criticism directed at Good Good was justified.
The response comes as the controversy has grown well beyond social media, putting increased scrutiny on Good Good and its relationships throughout the golf industry.
“I want to, first, start by saying I, personally, want to apologize for playing the role in this skit, in this ad, at the magnitude I did,” Clark said.
“And then, on Good Good’s behalf, on Good Good’s marketing team’s behalf, I wanted to say an apology as well, because this is not at all what we stand for.”
Clark Explains How Controversial Ad Came Together
Beyond apologizing, Clark used his response to explain how the concept made it from an idea to a finished advertisement.
Clark explicitly said he does not support domestic violence or abuse and stressed that those actions do not reflect Good Good’s values. He then explained that the company’s marketing team had approached him with the idea for the commercial.
“I wanted to offer you guys some clarity on the situation,” Clark said. “… Good Good marketing team reached out to us and they said, ‘we have this idea to essentially recreate or do a spin off the movie Obsession. … Garrett is going to be obsessed with his driver and anybody who touches Garrett’s driver will become possessed with the obsession.'”
He acknowledged that whatever the original intention may have been, the finished product was in poor taste.
Clark also included behind-the-scenes footage and other angles from the shoot in his response, providing viewers with additional context about how the interaction with Miestowski was filmed.
Still, he did not present that footage as a reason viewers should dismiss their concerns about the final advertisement. Clark acknowledged that the backlash had raised legitimate points and said the criticism the company received was justified.
Clark Defends Miestowski Amid Online Attacks
Clark addressed the reaction directed toward Miestowski, who he said had received many hateful messages following the controversy.
He strongly condemned those attacks and urged anyone still angry about the advertisement to direct their criticism toward him or Good Good rather than Miestowski.
“There are some things that I’m reading and seeing that I think are completely uncalled for,” Clark said. “I am going to call some people out in this situation. First off, her DMs. Her DMs have been, I think, completely unacceptable … To me, [it] seems a little backwards, for people who are advocating for no violence and abuse of any sorts.”
The response comes as Good Good faces consequences extending well beyond criticism on social media. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp publicly criticized the advertisement and Good Good’s initial response, while the premiere of the Golf Channel reality competition Big Break X Good Good was postponed.
Addressing Good Good’s Efforts in Women’s Golf
Good Good’s work to increase women’s participation in golf also became a significant part of Clark’s response.
The co-founder pointed specifically to Good Good Girls, an initiative designed to feature women golfers and help introduce more women to the sport.
He acknowledged, however, that the controversial advertisement conflicted with those efforts and damaged the message the company has attempted to promote.
“We started Good Good Girls about, I think it was about a year ago. We’ve been doing it for a while now, and our goal behind that was to promote the game of golf to young women getting into the game of golf and ideally growing that side of the sport,” Clark said.
“We do a multitude of things within our company to promote women’s side of the game. … Good Good messed up by promoting a very poor taste ad that was not good in any way, shape or fashion.”
He ultimately asked viewers to forgive both him and the company while expressing hope that Good Good could learn from the controversy.
“But hopefully you guys can forgive Good Good as well as myself for being a part of it,” Clark said.
“And hopefully we can move on and grow the women’s side of golf.”
Good Good’s Garrett Clark Addresses ‘Poor Taste’ Ad in Lengthy Video Apology