Good Good removed CEO Matt Kendrick and president Joe Flannery on Wednesday and named co-founder and early investor Nahid Giga as interim CEO after a controversial ad set off a wider backlash. The leadership change landed fast, and it came with a memo to staff from Alex Puchala, who leads finance and operations at the company.
The ad at the center of the fallout showed Garrett Clark running toward Alexis Miestowski and pushing her to the ground, then saying, “Do not touch my new driver,” a line that drew swift criticism. Kendrick, one of Good Good’s founders, had already said he did not view the ad before it ran, and Flannery had only been on the job for a few days when it broke.
The timing matters because the company is trying to stop the damage from spreading. Good Good and Callaway ended their partnership after the ad controversy, retailers pulled Good Good products from shelves, and the company stepped away as title sponsor of a fall PGA Tour event. It also let go of marketing head Jeff Lefkovits and a second marketing team employee, while reports said Callaway’s content head departed as well.
That fallout sits beside a contradiction Good Good has not been able to shake. A company spokesperson said it has still seen growth in retail sales and social media followers, even as the backlash cut into its brand-friendly image and forced a reshuffle at the top. Earlier this year, Good Good rolled out a campaign called “There’s More to Golf” to promote inclusivity and reach new audiences, a message that now sits awkwardly against the ad that triggered the crisis.
Good Good had raised $45 million last year, money that helped support the brand’s push beyond its YouTube roots and into retail. But Wednesday’s move shows the company is now focused less on growth stories than on containment, with Giga holding the top job for now and no public timeline for a permanent replacement.
