Byegone places in Mexico City / Burger Boy, Mexico's First Fast-Food Chain
Something big is going down at Burger Boy
By Alejandro Pohlenz
Although there are precedents for the sale of fast food in the world since the Roman Empire, the first "automat", that is, a place where food was sold through a window and that had a slot to pay, emerged in 1912.
The Americans, without a doubt, are the sovereigns of fast food. McDonald's sells 75 hamburgers per second and in the United States, a whopping 50 billion are consumed per year.
The history of Burger Boy
Trying to imitate the model of the Americans, two Puerto Rican businessmen and one Cuban, brought fast food to Mexico in 1968 with the famous Burger Boy. 4 establishments were opened simultaneously; among these, a branch in Insurgentes Sur, in San Ángel.
I was 6 years old and my memories of the beginning of Burger Boy are blurry; later, in my adolescence, I frequently visited Tomboy, an analogous concept, in Plaza Satélite.
Memorable advertising
Burger Boy achieved fame mainly due to its excellent marketing. It is worth reproducing here the distinguished names of the Brontohamburguesas: Unifante, Brontodoble and Dinotriple. We must also talk about some eccentric spiral-shaped straws called locopopotes (not ecological at all, by the way).
For the children, there was a toy. Its advertising was massive: it flourished on Chabelo's eternal show, En Familia, on Sunday mornings and in several commercials. I highlight this one from Salma Hayek.
In 1974 Burger Boy was acquired by Grupo Maseca, which managed to open 50 branches throughout the country.
When did it cease to exist?
However, in 1985 the villain of the movie entered the scene: the first McDonald's in Mexico was opened in Perisur. The American fast food companies gradually ate up the Mexican ones until, in 1996, the Brontohamburguesas ended their existence.
It is said that in 2015 there was a failed attempt to revive the brand. Goodbye forever goodbye, Burger Boy.
Permanently closed.
