Was your algorithm flooded with conversation regarding the Good Good Golf/Callaway golf club advertisement that depicted a man shoving a woman to the ground this week? I had never heard of Good Good Golf or Callaway until watching the video. Needless to say, they did not make a good first impression.
The public reaction has been enormous, and opinions fall across a wide spectrum-from “everyone involved should be fired” to “people are overreacting; it was just an ad.”
If you are more on the “people are overreacting” side of the scale, I challenge you to pause and consider a bigger question:
What does it say about our society that creators and approvers of this video think that violence against a woman (or anyone else) is humorous? I would argue that the creators of this video are desensitized to violence. They have become accustomed to seeing violence as normal and less serious than it is, and they are continuing to perpetuate the normalization of violence in our society.
No doubt that the people who created this video thought that they were being funny. They weren’t. They were normalizing violence. They were normalizing violence against women.
Normalizing violence against women does not help create a society where all members of our communities feel safe and respected. For those of us working with survivors of domestic violence, this is not an abstract issue. This is not “just an ad”. Violence against women is not a punchline. It is not a marketing device.
Our society pays a heavy price when ads such as this make harmful behavior seem ordinary, acceptable, or even entertaining.
- Desensitization: Repeated exposure to violence can make people less emotionally responsive to it.
- Makes violence seem acceptable: If violence is portrayed as funny, heroic, or consequence-free, viewers may see it as less serious.
- Influences younger audiences: Children and teenagers may have more difficulty separating entertainment from appropriate real-world behavior.
- Can encourage imitation: Some viewers may copy aggressive behavior they see portrayed positively.
- Hurts victims and survivors: Casual or glamorized portrayals can minimize the real pain and consequences associated with violence.
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Damages the message of an ad: If an advertisement uses violence just for shock value, viewers may remember the violence rather than the product or message. Let’s hope the public outcry works in this instance!
- Creates a harmful culture: When violent behavior is repeatedly treated as normal, it can contribute to a social environment where aggression is tolerated rather than challenged.
I want to live in a social environment where aggression is challenged. Please join me and other allies who are speaking up.
I appreciate you reading as always. Please drop me an email next week before noon Thursday sharing your thoughts on the video to be entered into a drawing to win a prize!
Have a good weekend!
