There's never a good time for a corporate faux pas. For Tesco Plc Chairman John Allan, ill-judged comments that white men on boards are an endangered species are at best unfortunate as the retailer struggles to get growth going again. They might be worse.
Allan's an affable chap who's unlikely to have set out to offend. But he's also a hugely experienced director, and should have known that telling a group of aspiring non-executive directors that white men on boards had to "work twice as hard" would be controversial.
To start with, his facts are wrong: about 70% of directors appointed in the UK last year were men. Furthermore, non-executive directors don't work to be put on boards anyway, they are selected.
Allan says the comments were meant to inspire future non-executive directors from diverse backgrounds, with the slightly exaggerated language chosen for effect.
Even so, they show a lack of judgement. And that's a worry for Tesco investors, particularly at the moment.
The company has a strong chief executive in Dave Lewis. That requires a chairman whose authority to challenge him is beyond question. Thanks to Allan's comments, he's now in a weaker position.
To start, its trading isn't off to the races. Sales growth slowed in the past four weeks, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel. Even though growth is now positive, it isn't out of the woods -- it still had net debt of £4.4 billion pounds as of August 2016, and a pension deficit of 5.9 billion pounds -- and is now engaged in a complicated merger.
Earlier this year, Tesco agreed to acquire Booker for just under £4 billion. The deal is likely to face a lengthy competition inquiry, and if approved will require a huge integration exercise to achieve the promised cost savings.
The deal risks a period of distraction as competitive pressures intensify -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Asda is looking to regroup under new chief executive Sean Clarke, and Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc has a revival underway. Meanwhile, German discounters Aldi and Lidl continue to open stores apace.
Tesco is also no stranger to boardroom controversies. Richard Cousins quit as senior non-executive director because he did not agree with the Booker deal. Other directors, including Allan, demanded detailed due diligence before they agreed to it.
A 2014 profit overstatement prompted the company to completely overhaul its board. Before this shake-up, it had come under fire from some investors for having too few non-executives with retail experience.
So there's no room for Tesco to slip up. A consumer boycott, which has been threatened after Allan's comments, would be particularly unwelcome.
The shares, which rose on the back of the Booker deal, are back to their levels last October.
However unintented Allan's offence may have been, his comments have undermined his effectiveness. That's just what Tesco doesn't need right now.
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