14 DAY TRIAL // It seems McDonald's isn't so successful after all, still facing consequences after its first major rejection in Bolivia, and years of enduring losses. Despite its cheap prices and fast service, McDonald's wasn't accepted in Bolivia, being regarded as a filthy, unhealthy advertising scheme.
Bolivia's demographics include indigenous populations with a strong connection to traditions and nature. For them, the fast food ways of cooking and serving meals are distrusting and not worth spending money. In comparison with the US, Bolivians appreciate a home-cooked family dinner than more they do a cheap BigMac or a HappyMeal.
After a decade of actual losses, there were just eight McDonald's restaurants left in the entire country, scattered between the major cities of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, according to Get Holistic Health.
The franchise persisted despite Bolivians’ obvious rejection, but the time came when McDonald's had to close even the last standing location and tell Bolivia “Goodbye.”
McDonald's failure in Bolivia inspired marketing specialist to do a documentary called “Why McDonald's went broke in Bolivia.” After showing the cultural barriers that led to the fast-food chain's rejection in that specific place, the documentary starts illustrating the whole McDonald's philosophy of eating and the fast-food way of cooking.
Bolivia has a strong culinary tradition and distrusts McDonald's not because of the brand itself, but because of the system it represents. In their mindset, Bolivians associate fast-food with a mistreatment to their bodies; for them, food must be properly prepared and not processed from hundreds of chemicals.
The citizens of Bolivia set an example for the rest of the world, their denial to poison themselves with fast food shows how people's will is stronger than any commercial giant. If McDonald's didn't make it in Bolivia, neither will other big fast-food chains, at least for the moment.