“Maar Lo Jhaapad…..”: YesMadam CEO apologises for ‘firing’ employees after mental health survey – Times of India

The CEO of YesMadam, the Noida-based salon home service startup that faced criticism for what has been termed as ‘cheap PR stunt’, has apologised. The company ‘fired’ 100 employees who opened up about being overworked but it turned out to be a part of a mental health campaign.
In a video message, Mayank Arya acknowledged that while the campaign’s intentions were clear, it was miscommunicated.
“People gave [a] lot of things, ‘ki ye sasta PR hai, chappalen maaro inko, kisi ne to ye tak comment kiya ki jhaapad maaro. Maar lo…maar lo jhaapad’,” he said in a video posted on his LinkedIn handle.
“…ye communication galat gaya…meri intentions sahi thi…,” he added, saying, “Lord Krishna also told Arjun that if you’re right, go all in”.
“I apologise from the bottom of my heart…Dil se… if I’ve hurt someone. No one has been fired, no emails were sent and there was no panic situation in the company and every employee participated in this campaign,” he said.
He also invoked Mahatma Gandhi and even talked about Elon Musk as well as Steve Jobs, saying their ideas were ridiculed but soon people joined them.

You can watch the full video here:

What happened in YesMadam’s PR campaign

A screenshot circulated widely on social media last week, suggesting that YesMadam had terminated 100 employees based on an internal mental health survey. The company was accused of firing those who reported feeling overworked.
This sparked significant backlash and criticism. However, YesMadam quickly responded with a detailed 3-page clarification, explaining that the controversial announcement was a strategic maneuver to highlight the widespread problem of workplace stress in India.
In a 3-page LinkedIn post, YesMadam reiterated that the campaign, which initially implied employees were dismissed due to stress, was intentionally designed to draw attention to this critical issue. The company also used this opportunity to unveil its “Happy 2 Heal” program and India’s first-ever “De-Stress Leave” policy, demonstrating its commitment to employee well-being.
YesMadam explicitly clarified that no employees were actually fired and apologised for any distress caused by the campaign.