Brands
Himalaya hits the streets: bringing cool comfort to Chennai’s sweltering summer
MUMBAI: Chennai’s Marina Beach saw an unusual sight this July: not just sunbathers or cricket matches, but a Himalaya-branded truck booth parked amid the crowd, drawing traffic police, sanitation workers, and commuters seeking relief from the unrelenting Tamil sun.
In a campaign more about care than commerce, Himalaya Wellness took its Aloe Vera Gel Face Wash directly to the streets with mobile Aloe Vera Truck Carts stationed at hotspots across Tamil Nadu. The setup was refreshingly simple—free face washes, a shaded spot, and a brief pause from the city’s heat. For many, it felt like more than a brand activation; it was a moment of genuine respite.
The response was immediate. Traffic constables stopped in for a cool wash, sanitation staff cleansed away the city’s grit, and passersby lingered not just for a product demo but for a rare moment of connection—with themselves, and with a brand showing up when it counted.
“For us, wellness is about how we show up in people’s real lives,” said Ragini Hariharan, Marketing Director – Beauty & Personal Care, Himalaya Wellness. “In Tamil Nadu’s peak summer, our booths became safe, soothing spaces. Whether a constable cooled off or a vendor washed away fatigue, these small moments made a big impact. That’s real connection.”
For Pratheep Kumar, Media Manager at Himalaya and a Chennai native, the idea was born out of empathy. “Anyone who’s lived here knows how relentless the heat is. Marina Beach is where the city comes alive—so it was the perfect place to offer a moment of relief.”
A short film capturing the activation showcases candid reactions—smiles, sighs, and thanks—from those who experienced the booth. The footage doesn’t just spotlight the face wash; it tells a story of care, comfort, and a brand living its purpose one face at a time.
For Himalaya, the Aloe Vera Truck Cart is more than a marketing pop-up. It’s a real-world gesture rooted in the brand’s nature-first legacy—a reminder that sometimes, the most powerful brand moments come in simple, human acts: a cool wash on a hot afternoon, offered with empathy.
To see the spirit in action, watch the campaign video here:
And if you’re braving Chennai’s summer, keep an eye out—you never know when a Himalaya truck might roll by, offering a much-needed pause in the heat.
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
