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Another Day, Another Brand Controversy on The Viral List

This week, brand controversy galore, Gen Z testing their literacy, and brands’ “bevolution” launches are all going viral…

Written and Edited by the YPulse Editorial Team

Aug 28 2026
North America, Western Europe

KEY TAKEAWAYS

From Callaway to Target, brands are finding themselves at the center of backlash from countless marketing missteps turned into PR headaches
Brands continue to roll out new drinks and creative launches aimed at Gen Z’s seemingly endless appetite for beverages
Girlfriends are putting their partner’s reading skills to the test in a new viral trend

It’s been a weird (emphasis on weird) period for brand marketing Something is in the air because apparently, many brands recently thought it was a good idea to post their horrible ones. For starters, Callaway and Good Good are facing backlash after releasing a promo for a co-branded driver in which Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark shoves fellow member Alexis Miestowski to the ground as she reaches for the club. The ad was pulled within a day amid intense backlash. “What was the point of the ad? Golf clubs are for men?” (59.6K likes on TikTok) “So they still wrote,...