In the world of consulting, appearances are everything — at least, that’s what this company would have their employees believe.

When a workplace seminar on professional dress codes ends up more like a sermon, one dissident’s clever retorts end up bringing his presentation to a halt.

You’ll want to read on for this clever tale of malicious compliance!

You want me to answer what you expect to hear? OK

Back in my days working for a Big 5 consulting company, we were mandated to attend several courses.

The one that relates to the story was called “corporate image” and was about looking the part, being well dressed and such.

The company was pretty strict about their dress code, and this employee was having none of it.

Being that the company had a “strictly suit” policy, the idea of the course was kind of an indoctrination to the Barney Stinson’s school of dressing.

I was having a particularly rough day that day, so we could say that my attitude towards the course wasn’t the best, and I sat in the back.

The instructor starts off the course with a visual on how not to dress.

The guy in charge (let’s call him Corpo) starts the course by showing a video of a guy, wearing flip flops, bathing suit, t-shirt with surfer logos, badly trimmed beard and ponytail.

He’s explaining some technical stuff in the most boring way, stuttering and showcasing a poor knowledge of the subject.

After the video finishes, Corpo asks if we think that the guy is a good communicator and that the message got through.

He then opens the floor for the audience to chime in.

Everybody says no, Corpo asks why.

People starts saying that he doesn’t look the part.

Then Corpo asks me.

I reply: “Because he’s boring as a white wall and doesn’t know the subject well enough.”

This clearly wasn’t the answer Corpo was looking for.

Corpo doubles down: “Don’t you think that the way he’s dressed has something to do with it?”

I say: “If he’s good, knows his stuff and communicates well, we could be fully naked for all I care.”

Corpo was not amused that the employee had gone off script.

Everybody laughs, except Corpo.

Corpo starts a full 15 minute rant about how looking the part, how wearing a suit is the most important thing because it makes someone believable and trustworthy and bla bla bla.

The employee chimes in again.

I interrupt him once to say, “Lawyers are among the most untrustworthy people on earth and they all wear suits.”

He continues his rant by saying that “Nobody would trust a lawyer without a suit” and bla bla bla.

The employee understands it’s all a script and decides to behave… for now.

OK, so this is how we roll, suits are the most important thing and this is how you expect us to reply.

Fine, I will comply.

Fast forward to later in the course.

He shows footage of Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer talking, engaging with the audience and being, generally, well regarded as good spokepersons, while wearing their typical outfits, which, guess what, are not suits.

At this point, they can’t hold back their objections any longer.

When the QA about the Steve’s videos start, I say “They don’t look trustworthy, two of the top 20 rich people in the world and they wear something that I can buy for like 40 bucks at any shopping mall? where are the suits?”

The other employees in the crowd start to agree with him.

Corpo by then is kinda furious with me, but I’ve managed to engage the rest of my colleagues into my side of the equation so we start arguing who’s more trustworthy, and if the brand of suit goes directly proportional to the trustworthiness of the guy.

Examples go from Pat Riley with his Armani suits to Don Corleone with his tailor-made ones.

Then Corpo gets a question that really starts to make him sweat.

Corpo has lost the class, and everything ends prematurely when someone asks “Wait, are military suits trustworthy or not?”

Corpo gasps, thinking where the conversation could be heading, and dismisses us ahead of schedule with a “OK, you’ve all passed this course, I think we’ll end it here.”

Looks like the speaker’s suit couldn’t save him from losing his crowd.

What did Reddit think?

This commenter stresses the importance of never judging a book by its cover.

Depending on the person, being dressed in a suit can actually have negative connotations.

Some companies will stop at nothing to micromanage their employees.

This redditor thinks society puts way too much emphasis on looks.

Corpo’s lesson plan unraveled faster than a forbidden surfer t-shirt.

By the end of the seminar, the message was clear: Even the sharpest suit can’t save a dull message.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.