Larenz Tate and Nia Long took fans down memory lane in their new Christmas commercial for Walmart.
The two, who starred in “Love Jones” together in 1997, portrayed a loving couple in the new commercial. It starts with Long opening up an early Christmas present from Walmart which happens to be a record player, an ode to their movie characters who met in a record store.
They go on to dance to an Isley Brothers song (in the movie, Long’s character was looking for an Isley Brothers CD) before their daughter comes and takes a picture of the two of them. Although the commercial brings a sense of nostalgia for many, it has received a lot of criticism.
This new commercial comes after Walmart announced that they will be rolling back on their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and endeavors. In a statement released on Nov. 26, the retailer said that they will be “ending racial equity training programs for staff and evaluation programs designed to increase supplier diversity.”
The statement continued by revealing that Walmart plans to “review all funding of Pride and other events and monitoring its online marketplace to remove sexual or transgender products markets to children.” Walmart will not be extending its Center for Racial Equity, a five-year philanthropic commitment that was created in 2020 designed to address the “root causes of gaps in outcomes of African Americans in education, health, criminal justice, and other areas,” as per The Root.
Many users on social media voiced their disdain for Walmart releasing this commercial after last week’s announcement. See what they had to say below.
How do you feel about this?