The Good Good is Doing Bad Bad
Newsletter #138
This Week
Golf drama
ICYMI: An ode to Dolly Parton
Spotted
Before We Go…
1. Good Good’s Bad, Bad Decision-Making
A 15-second social media ad has turned into a very expensive lesson in communications decision-making.
Good Good Golf started as a group of friends making golf videos on YouTube and grew into one of the most influential brands in the sport. It has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers, a growing apparel and equipment business, major retail distribution, and partnerships across professional golf. Last year, the company raised $45 million.
Among its most prominent relationships was a partnership with Callaway Golf.
Last week, Good Good posted an ad promoting its new driver with Callaway. In the video, co-founder Garrett Clark sees a woman reaching for the club, runs toward her, knocks her to the ground, stands over her, and tells her not to touch his new driver.
It was apparently supposed to be funny.
2. ICYMI: Public Relations Lessons From Dolly Parton
We were heartbroken to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton. She was a rarity — a unifying force not often seen in today’s climate. We could talk about her musical talent, her philanthropic efforts, or her comedic genius, but since this is a communications newsletter, we’ll focus there: Dolly knew how to connect with people from all walks of life — a gift and talent that will be studied for decades. In fact, we made an attempt in January of last year. Here’s that article.
3. Spotted
Hyper-local marketing can be hard, and we love when businesses find creative ways to do so. We found this example at a local lunch stop. It’s great. The bar earns some extra revenue selling ads on its coasters. The dentist’s office reaches an audience right down the street from their business. A win-win.
4. Before We Go…
Last week, an almost $18 billion settlement between Meta and dozens of states was announced, with the lawsuit stating that the social media giant’s platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive for children. Here’s a look at other litigation against social media companies across the country.
“A swarm of roughly 700 AI agents created by OpenAI carried out the July hack of the open-source platform Hugging Face and in many cases tried to cover their tracks, a pair of reports into the breach said on Wednesday. The coordinated activity by AI agents — programs that run with minimal human supervision — and their attempts to hide it raise questions about how closely AI companies are monitoring tests of increasingly powerful models, and could add fuel to calls for tighter oversight.”
From PR Daily: The AI backlash is getting louder. Brands should pay attention.
“Pew Research Center found that 50% of Americans are more concerned than excited about increased AI use in daily life. Just 10% are more excited. At the same time, 73% would allow AI to assist with at least some daily activities. People will use AI. But they’re also becoming much more selective about where they want it.”