Mind the wall when making a U-turn

Obfuscation is one of the great art forms. And some corporates can paint a picture so abstract that you're left squinting, wondering if it's a masterpiece that Kandinsky had wished he had come up with, or just a stream of carefully-strung garbage.

In this world of high AQI smoke and fairground mirrors, Walmart is trending for its recent decision to roll back its expansive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. It turns out that between DO or DEI, it has ended up choosing the latter.

Understandably, there's been a backlash, prompting the retail giant to issue a response that could earn it a spot in the PR Hall of Fame: 'Our purpose, to help people save money and live better... We've been on a journey and know we aren't perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers, and to be a Walmart for everyone.'


Read: We're rolling back because... um... er... You get the idea. This has a faint whiff of deja vu, reminiscent of our own dear Deepinder 'Zo-mato woh Sikandar' Goyal.

After the infamous 'pay-us-to-hire-you' debacle, Goyal claimed they'd pay the right candidates anyway and then waxed poetic about money and market rates. With now the likes of Walmart joining the fray, damage control, it seems, needs damage control.