The Observer

Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Opinion

American options aren't only common in Argentina, they're also often more popular than the traditional fare. [Click to enlarge]

I wholeheartedly expected my experience in Buenos Aires to more than humble my vision of the world, to eradicate thoughts of my home country, and to whisk me away to another planet where the population neither spoke my language nor could understand my upbringing. Yet on the contrary, the people I´ve met and the places I´ve visited here have rendered my opinion of my home country proud, forcing me to realize that, aside from the government´s foreign policy and political dealings with other nations, America as both a brand and a concept has filtered through to even the most unexpected aspects of Latin American life.

The most obvious manifestation of the American footprint on Buenos Aires is the frequency of familiar food throughout the city, and I don't only mean the to-be-expected Hard Rock Café and McDonald´s. Not only is there a Burger King on nearly every other block on some of the main avenues, but the city is home to two TGI Fridays as well as five (with more on the way) Starbucks locations. Lay´s potato chips are on stands at every corner, and Coke is probably consumed more than water. More than half the movies shown in theaters are American films, more than half the brands sold in shopping malls are from the United States, and it is extremely rare to find a non-American made computer. Kids our age also watch shows like Doug and Rugrats. A stroll into some of the most chic stores on Santa Fe Avenue or in Plaza Serrano is accompanied by the melodies of the Killers or Lady GaGa.

And, to add to the actual physical presence of Americanism in the city, the people quite frankly embrace it. As can be seen in the accompanying photo, the lunch alternatives to this fine American cuisine, when they do exist, are not as popular. The food court at the Abasto Shopping Mall, where this photo was taken, has not one, not two, but three McDonald´s restaurants in the same food court. Mind you, one of them is a Kosher McDonald´s, meant to cater to the city with the highest Jewish population in Latin America. Still yet, McDonald´s and other fast food restaurants like it have of course not only manifested themselves in Argentina, but around the world. This notion became exceptionally startling to me when, just two weeks ago, it was announced that a McDonald´s will be added to the small food court inside the Louvre in Paris; in the most visited city in the world, it is perhaps the most visited museum in the world, the pride and joy of the French. And now, within its own doors, the brand at the forefront of American trademarks will take root.

All of this is to say that while Bush or even Obama may be unpopular throughout the world, American products and services are completely in fashion. Despite the ever-present chatter concerning the imminent fall from power of the U.S. in the world, it is important to consider the fact that America not only enjoys many beneficial characteristics within its own borders, but has also firmly established its presence throughout the world. Much like a large oak whose roots wind and curve vertically and laterally through the crevices of the earth, clenching to dirt, pavement, metal, and sand, America has marked impressions in the consciousness of people around the globe, from fast food and music to technology and a model of governing. After all, you can rip off the tree´s leaves, break off at its branches, and chop it down to the trunk, but it´ll still have far-reaching roots settled in where other trees eagerly wait to sprout up.

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