The announcement of the launch of Tata Nano, the small car produced by the Tatas, saw the media falling over itself heralding the arrival of the “People’s Car”.
The fact that the car was priced at Rs 100,000 was enough to result in long front-page stories; glowing feature articles on Indian engineering and enterprise; breathless test drives; and fawning editorials and interviews with the man behind the car, Ratan Tata.
So, how does the same media treat the launch of Tata Swach, the water filter/ purifier that is priced at Rs 749 and Rs 999, and in a country like India is likely to reach more people and change more lives, and launched by the same man.
In alphabetical order:
AFP (news agency): 540 words
Associated Press: 772 words
BBC: 245 words
Business Standard: 381 words
DNA: 308 words
Press Trust of India: 477 words
Economic Times: 400 words
Indian Express: 415 words
Hindu Businessline: 461 words
Hindustan Times: 162 words on the filter, 333 words of an interview
The Times of India: 202 words
Copenhagen, anybody?
Carbon intensity?
Photograph: courtesy Paul Noronha/ The Hindu Businessline
Also read: And Ratan Tata sang, PR kiya tho darna kya?
If we can get a car for Rs 1 lakh, why can’t we…?
There’s nothing lost if the Nano isn’t produced
‘What Henry Ford did then, Ratan Tata has now’
