Well, yes, it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_the_Walrus

I get the reference. It simply has no relevance to the topic, and gives people no reason to read the piece.

In fact, it actively detracts from the piece, by forcing people to focus on it instead of the supposed content.

It's like clickbait, only less successful.

No relevance to the topic? The title is: `<i is="the walrus">`, the topic is the usage and implementation of the `is=""` HTML attribute which is mentioned in the second sentence of the article. The lede isn't exactly buried

No, the title is 'I is="the walrus"', which lacks the angle brackets and, therefore, any hint it has anything to do with HTML.