Buy a TV, Get Free Petrol in Manipur

By K Sarojkumar Sharma

Imphal, May 19 : “Buy a television set and get 10 litres of petrol free.” Sounds bizarre? Not exactly, if you are in Manipur where an electronic dealer has published such an advertisement in local dailies to cash in on the scarcity of petrol triggered by the economic blockades on national highways by Nagas in protest against the state’s decision to prevent NSCN (IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah from visiting his ancestral village, Somdal, in Ukhrul district.

Petrol has run out of stock in strife-torn Manipur after the arterial supply routes were blocked by Naga agitators for over a month.

It’s on a rare instance that a lucky person gets a litre of petrol, and that too after paying Rs 200 in the grey market.

Amid this acute fuel scarcity, an Imphal-based electronic outlet dealer, L Sharat Singh, came up with the smart idea to jack up the sale of television sets, washing machines and refrigerators by luring customers with “free” petrol.

The best medium, he felt, was newspaper ads. And the response was overwhelming —hundreds of customers were seen queueing up at his store. However, there’s a catch.

The customers have to wait for the “free” petrol till the highway blockades are lifted and the fuel becomes available in filling stations. Incidentally, this is not the first time that Sharat has come up with such an innovative marketing strategy.

During the 52-day economic blockade on NH-39 and NH-53 he had used the same strategy to rev up his sales. The aim behind such strategies, said Sharat, “is not only to attract customers, but also to send a message to the government”.