Damage control

Coca-cola India

It seems that Coke is now set for an image make-over to counter the bad press it has received from Indian environmentalists. Its Asia communications head David Cox is going to camp in India for the next two months to understand how the Indian media works. Cox, who is based in Hong Kong, is also going to travel over much of the country to look into the work of the local media. The company's officials, however, say that not much should be read into the move. "It's important for him to understand how things are. It's difficult to have a perspective on what is happening in India while sitting there in Hong Kong," they say.

Industry sources, however, say that there should be more to the visit of Cox than this. According to them, the intense anti-Coke movement that has gained ground in the country on account of allegations of depletion of groundwater levels may well have prompted the soft drink giant to call in its Asia Group communications head for damage control.'