Remember the old car ads that boasted about being ‘ideal for Indian roads’? The Ambassador wore that badge with pride. Tata, however, has decided to be brutally honest. Its new Harrier.ev campaign [Tata ev – the perfect road for Harrier.ev] is not so much about the car as it is about the cratered reality beneath our wheels. It practically mocks our road conditions. Instead of pretending that roads are smooth, the campaign slyly accepts the truth: the Harrier.ev can handle the chaos beneath its wheels.
The creative is cheeky, almost cruel. It shows the EV gliding where most vehicles would rattle, scrape, or simply give up. It is less an ad and more a mirror held up to the Indian motorist’s daily nightmare. And by doing so, Tata has landed a blow not just on its competitors but also on the very state of our public works.
Potholes: India’s most durable infrastructure
Ask any commuter what lasts longer – a freshly laid road or the pothole it produces – and the answer is obvious. A brand-new topping of tar is like a politician’s promise: it does not take long to crack. Within days, wide craters reappear as if reclaiming their rightful place.
Some potholes are modest, designed only to spill your morning chai. Others, however, are ambitious engineering marvels. Just recently, an entire water tanker sank into one of these asphalt abysses, reminding us that in India, the ground beneath your tyres can be less trustworthy than the WiFi at your local airport.
A test track outside your house
The brilliance of Tata’s message is that it recognises what every Indian driver already knows – the real endurance track is not inside a factory or testing ground. It is your daily commute. From broken patches to missing manhole covers, from caved-in stretches to asphalt that peels off like old paint, every kilometre is an obstacle course.
By suggesting that the Harrier.ev can take this in its stride, Tata has taken advertising out of the showroom and put it straight on the street. It is a bold campaign because it sells less of a dream and more of a reality – our roads are terrible, but here is a car that will not complain.
Only in India do roads vanish overnight while the potholes become permanent landmarks – and now, even ad campaigns are built to last on them.
