I saw a shit ton of "bendgate" press. It was a major media issue.
And you know what? In reality it wasn't a major issue. For most people it was just a minor one. My phone was slightly bent. It bothered me that it was slightly bent. Beyond that mild bother though, it had no impact on my life. For the people who suffered "touch disease" (which again, I never even heard of until this article so it can't have been terribly widespread) it obviously was a problem, though one that's easily fixed by having the phone replaced under warranty. Obviously, having a widespread issue affect your flagship phone in this manner is a problem, but it's largely a PR problem rather than a serious issue with the device.
Meanwhile, having your phone end up as a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment is a pretty major issue.