McDonalds (and other burger chains for that matter) has always been extremely expensive in Argentina, even during the 'golden age' of Carlos Menem (golden age from the American/globalized/free-market perspective). For the same money you could eat a McDonalds burger you can eat a 3 course lunch menu in Puerto Madero (one of Buenos Aires nicest parts).
But... kids love brands. That's why you see suckers using MacBook Pros to browse Facebook in the big malls, even when they cost about 3x what they cost in the US. Go figure. Maybe advertising works?
> That's why you see suckers using MacBook Pros to browse Facebook in the big malls, even when they cost about 3x what they cost in the US
Exactly, it just seems so incredibly dumb from the government to block or put VERY high taxes to imported products that WILL NEVER be produced here (they make them in Brazil, to cover the whole region, they will not start to produce them in an adjacent country). They're begging for contraband. And I bet that a nice percentage of those boys who you see, using those MacBook Pros bought them from someone who sold it without paying the proper taxes...
But... kids love brands. That's why you see suckers using MacBook Pros to browse Facebook in the big malls, even when they cost about 3x what they cost in the US. Go figure. Maybe advertising works?