Shailesh Dobhal: Brands of wrath

It's a post-truth world for multinational brands and businesses

Pepsi and Coca-Cola are again in a tight spot in India, this time with a powerful section of the Tamil Nadu traders’ association continuing with its two-month-old boycott of the cola majors’ products on the issue of alleged abuse of groundwater in the state. Seen as non-essential goods, the cola majors are easy targets for anyone looking for a cause—from farmers in Plachimada to political groups, green lobby et al. Will the rise of shrill nationalism in the US under Trump, retreat of multilateralism a la Brexit and return of the swadeshi lobby in India—witness Ramdev’s billion-dollar Patanjali brand’s strong