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Mark Crossfield or TaylorMade: Who do you side with?

Wonton

Wonton

Sphincter says what?
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# Ish
So Mark Crossfield has signed a club deal with Titleist and TaylorMade has decided to NOT send their clubs to Mark to review because they feel that he’d be biased.
Who do you side with?

https://youtu.be/AhyENf52hZE
 
Why would they send clubs to someone on another staff. I realize he does reviews and such and this might be a -ev decision but that is what they think is best. Not something I would make a big deal out of.

Full disclosure I made it through 29 seconds before I remembered I hate those 15 minute vlog crap he does. so am going solely off your description.
 
Neither.
 
I have a healthy and perhaps irrational disliking of TM, but with Mark on another OEM's staff I can definitely understand their reasoning. That being said, he's not the only reviewer I've heard with negative things to say about TM.
 
Seems odd someone who does reviews like his would be on a staff in the first place, seems like a conflict and it isn't like he needs to be on staff to get free clubs.
 
I think it’s petty. If TM clubs perform like they normally do then I don’t know why they’d be afraid to have someone like him review them even if they are signed with another company.
 
Well, this seems like a backwards reasoning for why they didn't send him the M1 and M2 when they were last released. Also, I agree with Mark. If I can't possibly believe Crossfield on his claims of what a club can or can't do because he has a deal with Titleist, why should I believe any claims made by TaylorMade's marketing department, including their pros?

I think TM attempts to power play here and it's very silly. My wife's a freelance writer. She writes for numerous entities within the military community, in both print and online. They're all aware that they're paying her; some more, some less. She makes no bones about it; her byline is in her articles. They're paying her because she's honest and forthright. No one in their right mind would claim they can't get a fair shake from her because she's paid by someone else. That would be ruinous for their credibility, not hers.
 
So Taylormade's position is that anything said by someone "on staff" cannot be trusted and should not be listened to?

Interesting and hypocritical position considering that their idea of marketing is to get their Staffers to tell people about their product. Twitter today anyone? Once again Taylormade's "marketing" department proves why they should be flipping burgers instead.

Even more ridiculous when you consider that Taylormade was trying to sign Crossfield but lost out.
 
He is a teach pro......do you have ANY idea how many teaching pros are "staff" players.......like......a lot.
ntanygd760 said:
Seems odd someone who does reviews like his would be on a staff in the first place, seems like a conflict and it isn't like he needs to be on staff to get free clubs.
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Paladin said:
Well, this seems like a backwards reasoning for why they didn't send him the M1 and M2 when they were last released. Also, I agree with Mark. If I can't possibly believe Crossfield on his claims of what a club can or can't do because he has a deal with Titleist, why should I believe any claims made by TaylorMade's marketing department, including their pros?

I think TM attempts to power play here and it's very silly. My wife's a freelance writer. She writes for numerous entities within the military community, in both print and online. They're all aware that they're paying her; some more, some less. She makes no bones about it; her byline is in her articles. They're paying her because she's honest and forthright. No one in their right mind would claim they can't get a fair shake from her because she's paid by someone else. That would be ruinous for their credibility, not hers.
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But do you think Russia would invite her in to write a story knowing the US military was paying her?
 
What does he expect? If you sign a deal with company A all other companies have to wonder if they are gong to get a fair shake. He should have decided if he's a journalist or not before signing on with Titleist.
 
I don’t care enough about Crossfield to care what clubs are or aren’t sent to him.
 
Also to think that we (THPers) make our club buying decisions based on Mark’s or Rick Shiels’, and other YouTube reviews is silly. We buy clubs because we test them and we choose what works for us. Their insights are just extra info but doesn’t matter until we try different clubs.
 
Mark did a parody of the new m3 and m4 testing. Seems strange that TM wouldn’t send him clubs to review...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
tequila4kapp said:
What does he expect? If you sign a deal with company A all other companies have to wonder if they are gong to get a fair shake. He should have decided if he's a journalist or not before signing on with Titleist.
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He's not. He's a teaching professional that also talks golf gear.
 
PKorf said:
He is a teach pro......do you have ANY idea how many teaching pros are "staff" players.......like......a lot.
Click to expand...

I know teaching pros are on staff. I honestly don't pay a ton of attention to his stuff. If he has just a boring staff deal(14 clubs, bag. 4 pairs of shoes, $700 in clothes and a dozen cases of golf balls) then TM is being a bit silly but if he is getting a chunk of cash as well then I understand. Every single teaching pro at basically every cc gets a staff deal, that I get.
 
I find Mark's response to this whole thing to be childish and I think he's a bully. He is so full of himself i can't stand it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jman said:
Neither.
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exactly this.

IF they are saying they don't want to send him product becuase he is now on the Titleist staff, that's their perogative. I recognize the job he has done for years now in building that youtube review crowd(and I like the shift he made to some more on course stuff). There are plenty of other YouTube channels that will review the gear, and Marc has said he will go buy them and review it as well. That's not anything that should be considered outside of the norm. Now, his latest vlog talks about the bad communication with TM, and while I don't want to get in to details, I wholeheartedly believe it.

But he has to have known there would be some pushback to him joining a staff, esp one like Titleist(meaning a big boy brand). I'm sure companies weren't thrilled when he was using Chrome Soft in everything, and then not only would he use Chorme Soft, but he'd use Truvis to showcase the product within each video review.

The bias card gets played often. Hell it does here when we do reviews, and we writers aren't exactly on a payroll haha
 
I'm not surprised as I cannot understand how an "independent" reviewer can express an unbiased opinion of another OEM when he is under contract to Titleist. What if TM or any non-Titleist OEM created a driver or whatever that blew the doors off of Titleist. Would he get all giddy about the competition knowing sure well his employers are intently watching every word spoken by him during each and every review? My guess is he would be looking for another gig sooner than later and the other OEM's would be gun shy to take him on.

I have always liked Mark and have no ill feelings but if you make your bed, you got to sleep in it. I don't know if he has done a review of the F8 yet but will take a look because based on what I have read, it appears to be performing at the top of the current driver offerings of 2018. Can't wait to see his review of the redacted Callaway offering.

This will be fun watching.
 
BTW I will say airing it all out like that makes him come across a bit petty.
 
ddec said:
exactly this.

IF they are saying they don't want to send him product becuase he is now on the Titleist staff, that's their perogative. I recognize the job he has done for years now in building that youtube review crowd(and I like the shift he made to some more on course stuff). There are plenty of other YouTube channels that will review the gear, and Marc has said he will go buy them and review it as well. That's not anything that should be considered outside of the norm. Now, his latest vlog talks about the bad communication with TM, and while I don't want to get in to details, I wholeheartedly believe it.

But he has to have known there would be some pushback to him joining a staff, esp one like Titleist(meaning a big boy brand). I'm sure companies weren't thrilled when he was using Chrome Soft in everything, and then not only would he use Chorme Soft, but he'd use Truvis to showcase the product within each video review.

The bias card gets played often. Hell it does here when we do reviews, and we writers aren't exactly on a payroll haha
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You spit truth.
 
I think I tend to agree with Mark on this one. I don't think his videos are "crap" as mentioned earlier. I think their intelligent. I like his teaching style. From the perspective of having a fair review, OBVIOUSLY Titleist trusts him to give honest reviews by not making him only review the clubs of which he is on staff of. In fact it sounds as if that they welcome it. They trust him. Bottom line is teaching pros around the globe have opportunities to be "staff" players and one who has a large audience like Mark does for certain should be on "staff" of any company. I think its good to know that TaylorMade is concerned about peoples honesty in their reviews. It doesn't seem like more progressive thinking companies ie(Callaway, Cobra, Wilson-yes Wilson, Cleveland, Titleist etc etc etc) don't give a damn. Compare our products to theirs....please. Ive fallen off the TM boat a long time ago after playing a full bag of theirs for most of my younger life. This just further positions them down the line for me. Id love to test their stuff and compare it to my Wilson FG Tour V6s......my Callaway Epic SZ....my TItleist Vokey wedges....Id just hate them to get all butt hurt if I don't like it more than what im currently gaming.
 
ArmyGolf said:
So Taylormade's position is that anything said by someone "on staff" cannot be trusted and should not be listened to?

Interesting and hypocritical position considering that their idea of marketing is to get their Staffers to tell people about their product. Twitter today anyone? Once again Taylormade's "marketing" department proves why they should be flipping burgers instead.

Even more ridiculous when you consider that Taylormade was trying to sign Crossfield but lost out.
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But most TM staffers don't weigh in on Callaway latest offerings.
PKorf said:
He is a teach pro......do you have ANY idea how many teaching pros are "staff" players.......like......a lot.
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I know he is, but most don't publicize their reviews on clubs outside of their own.
tequila4kapp said:
What does he expect? If you sign a deal with company A all other companies have to wonder if they are gong to get a fair shake. He should have decided if he's a journalist or not before signing on with Titleist.
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I'm with you on this.
 
or he just wants his followers to know why he doesn't review TM product seeing as he gets requests for it.
ddec said:
BTW I will say airing it all out like that makes him come across a bit petty.
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PKorf said:
or he just wants his followers to know why he doesn't review TM product seeing as he gets requests for it.
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but he's going to review it, he said so himself. So what does it matter to the followers if he buys the product or not? I think he'll do a fine job when he does it.
 
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