Embargo Dates

I just watched the Callaway Live Minute, and something Harry said got me thinking about embargo dates. Specifically, how are they set and what is the reasoning behind them? I know it was somewhat tongue-in-cheek (and I appreciated the delivery), but it seems a bit odd for a company to effectively say, "you're going to see some new products out on Tour this week, but we can't talk about them at all until next Tuesday." If they're going to be out on Tour now, why not talk about them now, or even fill consumers in on the details earlier in the week so that they can specifically be looking for them on Tour starting on Thursday?

Disclaimer: Just to be clear, this post is not meant in any way as a criticism of OEMs' use of embargo dates or THP's policy of honoring them. I'm just really curious about why they exist and the specifics about how they are set, etc.

Well a big part of the pictures released yesterday were done via social media. Companies before didn't really have to worry about "instant gratification" that consumers seek now because they could control who had access to their product and could regulate how they presented it. Now a days, with people sharing information for public viewing within seconds, its really hard to have a perfect set standard since everyone tries to be the "first" to debut or "leak" a product to increase revenue or create traffic to their website or page.

There are usually a lot of behind the scenes moving parts that go along with something like this.

They want to be sure that all of their reps and dealers have some time to digest information on the club so their salespeople all know about it. When the customers have more information on a new release before the people selling it, it's never good for the OEM/seller relationship.

Additionally they want to make sure all of the media have detailed information at the same time. In effect, they're making sure that everyone has it at the same time. And that their own web site has it at the same time.

Talking about it being seen on tour a couple of days in advance is all part of the plan. That <insert player> put a new <club> in the bag will surely be mentioned once or twice by the broadcast.

It's part of controlling the message and how it gets rolled out to reach the biggest audience and create interest.

I figured I'd post this question here rather than start a new thread, but here's my question about embargo dates, why even have them, if even the club company helps promote websites that don't follow them? I understand the purpose for having them to begin with, but I see some companies who don't even follow or enforce their own dates. It just doesn't make any sense.