Brand "un"loyalties!

Puttin4Bird said:

Maxfli. Are they still around? Never been a Maxfli fan personally, well maybe for a little while when Freddy was representing them but only the 1 ball, Revolution I think.

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Oh man I used to play the revolution ball (not the current version), love love loved them, so much control around the green and sweet with the distance.

If I go a step back, I will say that Nike Golf is a company that I don't really have much interest in right now. I'm not really into the look of the VR line. The irons just don't look hacker-friendly to me. I may be completely wrong, but that is the impression that I get in looking at them. If I were to have an entire day to demo, Nike would probably be my last choice.

I really do love their clothes, though. I think they are some of the best this year in terms of looks and the two NG shirts in my closet are probably the coolest feeling ones I own.

I would say the advertising is what drives me nuts about companies more than the actual equipment. In this day and age most clubs are all gonna be playable and worth owning with a few exceptions it mostly comes down to what feels the best and works for your swing. The company that probably makes the best clubs and you hardly hear anything from is Mizuno. So I will rate the advertising as brands that push me away in order of most to least annoying.

Titleist - have the worst commercials on television, I don't care how many pro's are playing you this week, I don't care that Annie and her son play the game and speak broken english trying to tell me your balls spin. Then I have to watch Michael Breed prostitute your gear on the golf channel and telling me that I should chip with your balls and if they finish close to the hole I should play it because all Titleist balls are long. Annoying best summarizes this company to me.

Callaway - they are number one in everything, irons, drivers, major chokes, CEO bowel movements, etc. It's like one big pissing contest with these guys and they need to quit showing former players in their commercials. Winner's play callaways incase we forget since the last time I watched the golf channel.

Ping - comedians making their pro's look like arrogant buttholes. Lose the bashing amateur golfers because we suck attitude and show commercials that make me want to try your gear not notify me that I suck unless I play it.

Cobra - David Feherty does not make anyone want to buy your clubs especially with wise cracks.

Cleveland/Srixon - Commercials are ok but the one telling us about the wedges showing the CEO walking around the plant is kinda lame. I know it's the year of the wedge but testing and pro performance is showing the grooves have little to no effect on scoring. Srixon just has their pro's notifying that they switched and they are holding your ball. Show me your stats with the new ball then tell me why you switched.

Nike - Comedians and haven't released a serious golf commercial since Augusta with Tiger looking like someone stole his toy. Funny doesn't interest me when I'm thinking about golf so show more behind the scenes stuff at the oven and you will get more attention.

Taylormade - Pissing contest with Callaway needs to go, we know your clubs are the most innovative and you should stick to that instead of arguing over the #1 title all the time, we see 120 guys each week hitting your drivers. And drop Sergio from your staff as he ruins the image of the company.

Bridgestone - the commercials with people talking about their ball fitting are nice, the ones trying to be funny with the bull fighter is silly. Stick to serious.

Mizuno - Haven't seen a commercial that I remember.

That's my list of unappealing things about the companies and their advertising.

Cobra - Just not happening for me. I find their clubs to be consistent though, consistently shorter and not as good feeling as others.
Titleist - Another club that just never felt very good to me besides the AP1's, which surprised me at the last outing.
Bridgestone - Clubs arent really for me, love the balls though

Adams used to be on this list but I really like what they are doing now. Great looking clubs and they perform too.

tcalloway1 said:

so, before i ever joined THP, i was a die hard callaway fan....mostly b/c phil mickelson was one of their staffers and phil's just awesome (this is a perfect example of how marketing can sway consumers, b/c i was), but i find myself being less and less loyal to callaway for a couple of reasons:

1. it's incredibly disappointing that 2 out of 3 iron sets for 2010 aren't available in LH. i don't get that, especially when you have phil mickelson as one of your staffers. it sucks not being able to demo a diablo forged or a x 24 iron. it's really turned me off to be honest.

2. my demo day experience. i was treated with an incredible amount of rudeness by the callaway tech's there and that's something that i will not forget.

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While I do think a lot of us are spoiled with the number of variations that are made available to us (ex: me hunting for a specific Taylormade shaft to experiment with) I do think it's ridiculous that you were not able to swing those clubs.. I felt like the Diablo irons were a great step in a more neutral direction for Callaway, and even I enjoyed hitting them.

lol, that is one hell of a list, james! I agree on the Cleveland commercial. That guy just creeps me out and his sweater murders my eyes.

hawk308 said:

lol, that is one hell of a list, james! I agree on the Cleveland commercial. That guy just creeps me out and his sweater murders my eyes.

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+1 on everything hawk, especially the horrible sweater. i hated seeing it in the THP magazine.

I strongly suggest they hire a stunt CEO for the next commercial.

I am one to try any brand but have to admit that I haven't tried that many. Most of my woods and hybrids are closeouts or used clubs that I bought because of the price. I'm looking forward to demos at the outing because I would really like some nice FW woods and hybrids to replace the ones I have now.

KellyBo said:

I am one to try any brand but have to admit that I haven't tried that many. Most of my woods and hybrids are closeouts or used clubs that I bought because of the price. I'm looking forward to demos at the outing because I would really like some nice FW woods and hybrids to replace the ones I have now.

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You could have fooled me KB! Your club diversity is impressive!

Titleist. The balls are over-priced and the equipment has never held any interest for me to even try.

I like how we dislike a commercial so we hate or dont like that brand. Im sick of the dumb Titleist commercials and now they have those stupid magazine ads trying to make up for lack of distance by trying to say control around the green is better. I still wont play your ball and dont like your drivers. lol @ Titleist, try again.

Titleist......not a fan. Balls are too expensive and clubs just don't feel right to me.
Cobra.......never seen or swung a club that I have liked of theirs.
Nike......don't like their clubs or their golf balls.
Foot Joy.......unless you spend big $$$ on their higher end shoes, they wear out way too fast!!!

tdinbr said:

Titleist......not a fan. Balls are too expensive and clubs just don't feel right to me.
Cobra.......never seen or swung a club that I have liked of theirs.
Nike......don't like their clubs or their golf balls.
Foot Joy.......unless you spend big $$$ on their higher end shoes, they wear out way too fast!!!

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Thats one I forgot! Im with you on Foot Joy.

tdinbr said:

Titleist......not a fan. Balls are too expensive and clubs just don't feel right to me.
Cobra.......never seen or swung a club that I have liked of theirs.
Nike......don't like their clubs or their golf balls.
Foot Joy.......unless you spend big $$$ on their higher end shoes, they wear out way too fast!!!

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That's why I buy after season for shoes....much cheaper!

Footjoy, to me, seems to make their shoes so that they wear out/fall apart quickly on purpose, and I just can't go with a company that does that.
Last pair I had the soles just flopped off after about 6 months for no reason whatsoever....

really? That's the first I've ever heard of that. I used to have those problem with Callaway shoes and have never worn them since....

tdinbr said:

Footjoy, to me, seems to make their shoes so that they wear out/fall apart quickly on purpose, and I just can't go with a company that does that.
Last pair I had the soles just flopped off after about 6 months for no reason whatsoever....

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OEM Kevin said:

Thats one I forgot! Im with you on Foot Joy.

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I also completely forgot... I used to be in love with footjoy, but after buying a pair of adidas about three years ago, I'll never go back. Not only do I think adidas makes a superior shoe, I think they look 10x better.

Will never play Callaway, heinous crimes against golf aside I don't want to play a driver that sounds like you are hitting it with any empty dustbin or use irons that were designed by Duffy Waldorf's tailor.

I'm not a big fan of Nike clubs or newer Pings but otherwise am not anti any other particular brand.

Brands I most look forward to seeing stuff from are Taylormade and Mizuno. TM don't often keep me waiting long lol.

Haha don't be fooled. Other than my driver and irons, everything else in the bag was bought because of bargain prices, not because of brand. I am definitely not brand loyal or "un"loyal. I really want to try out different clubs to see what works best for me. No more bargains...I'm gonna get what I want slowly but surely and I have no preference as to brand.

Canadan said:

You could have fooled me KB! Your club diversity is impressive!

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I will never play Titleist because of the overhyped elitist stigma, and that none of their equipment has ever interested me.

Cobra and Ping are in that sort of "blah" category for me. Again, their lineup to me just does not seem appealing, and the clubs I've given a chance, I came away unimpressed.

Side note: I was thinking yesterday watching the Barclays, and it's been confirmed reading through this thread, that THPer's are not a group thats very fond of Titleist. I attribute that to the staff of THP, and their outstanding (unbiased) reviews and opinions on all of the excellent equipment out there. Not that the staff is anti-Titleist, but that members become aware that one does not have to play Titleist to be a serious golfer. HOWEVER... one must be a walker.

I kid, I kid!

Great thread TC. Lot's of opinions out there, haha. I can't say there's any brand I won't try, but I certainly have brands I don't find myself too interested in. For some reason Callaway sounds like something my dad would use, (I think he might have, haha), Ping ... are they the thing we used to play that bounced back and forth on the computer screen? Bridgestone and Titleist balls are great as far as I'm concerned, but have not came across a club that worked for me.

Beyond that I'm pretty good to go!

Cleveland Woods. I loved the launcher series with the gold shafts, but never got into the new stuff (although they still make a great wedge). Callaway irons - never liked them. Wilson still makes a great iron, but the woods are way off.

Pupini said:

Cleveland Woods. I loved the launcher series with the gold shafts, but never got into the new stuff (although they still make a great wedge). Callaway irons - never liked them. Wilson still makes a great iron, but the woods are way off.

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interesting, i loved the fybrid series and i also think that the smooth is highly, highly underrated.

i love hearing what works for some and what doesn't for others. for example, i couldn't hit or like the nike VR hybrid at all!!

I have more Taylormade stuff in the bag than anything else and really wanted to like the SF and other item's that have come along over the last year or so, but they just were not for me. I can't even say they appealed to me in looks. I fell in love with the Cleveland irons this year, but I didn't hit them well at all. Mizuno is my next big adventure, all though TM sounds like they still have some tricks up their sleeves.