Cheil Worldwide Teaches Kids Valuable Life Lessons Through Golf

Cheil Worldwide has created a golf-themed children’s book to help teach the virtues of life. The book will be used in the “Golf Daddy Class,” an educational program sponsored by Orient Golf, a golf distributor in Korea, with the aim of helping golf-playing adults share their life lessons from playing the sport with the younger generation.

In Korea, golf is often portrayed as a business tool for fathers on weekends while its inherent sportsmanship goes unnoticed. Orient Golf, the client of Cheil Worldwide, was looking for a corporate social responsibility program to change this perception and to position itself as a leading brand in people’s minds.

“Golf is the only sport that the player gives a penalty to him/herself,” said Jongchul Jang, creative director at Cheil Worldwide. “We believed that a good golfer can become a person of good manners, so we created Golf Daddy Class by bringing golf and education on life virtues together.”

The illustrated book consists of 10 chapters based on the Golf Daddy Class curriculum. The contents touch on various topics including an introduction to golf, lessons to learn from game rules and golf-related proverbs, a guide to golf course field trip, and many more.

Golf Daddy Class books deliver the virtues to be learned by playing golf. For example, children learn “honesty” as the player keeps the scores; and ‘composure’ as the player needs to focus on him/herself and not the competitor in order to win the game; or ‘patience’ as the golfer has to keep playing even when faced with obstacles such as bunkers or water hazards.

The books are given to children at the beginning of Golf Daddy Class, hidden inside special green boxes to spark their interest. Inside the green box, are the book and other tools and souvenirs to help them complete the class, such as a golf ball, T-shirt, canvas bag, photo frame and character stickers.

“Adolescence is an important period for developing your dreams and ideals,” said Junseok Park, account manager at Cheil Worldwide. “By opening the green box, students begin their journey in search of future life.”

Cheil Worldwide worked on the book and campaign with Dr. Dongil Kim, professor at College of Education, Seoul National University, illustrator Jam Kim, space designer Sangjun Park, book designer Moojung Park and film director Sungho Han.

The Golf Daddy Class is developed as a 10-week curriculum with 10 sessions. 20 students are taught by two professional golf trainers from Orient Golf, two teachers from the NGO for children’s education “We Start” and golf daddies who are willing to become mentors. The program was pilot-tested in two middle schools in Korea, and will launch officially in ten middle schools starting 2017.