I bought this at a local supermarket. I'm not sure how this could have happened. I can't imagine Coke and Pepsi both using the same canning plant. You know you're living off the radar, though, when you see things like this.
There isn't a McDonald's in Cambodia. My students have never even heard of it. There are copycat fastfood places like Lucky Burger and BBWorld but the only American fast food chain here is KFC, although there are rumors Burger King is coming.
There isn't a Starbucks here. In fact, it was big news when a Gloria Jean's opened here a few months ago. There are coffee shops aplenty -- I'm sitting in one now! -- but Gloria Jean's is the first American company to set up shop here. In Bangkok, by way of example, there is a Starbuck's approximately every eight feet.
My abiding impression of Bangkok, though, is how many 7-11's there are. You have to see it to believe it. Far more than in any US city. There is an intersection in Silom, the financial district -- where the protests were centered a few months ago -- where there is a 7-11 on all four corners.
There are no copyright laws in Cambodia so shops can freely sell bootleg CDs. Kids walk the streets selling books to tourists that have been photocopied. These are actually impressive operations. Even the color maps and photos inside the books are faithfully reproduced. A Lonely Planet travel guide that would cost you $25 in a bookstore can be bought on the street for three or four dollars.
As I mentioned, KFC is popular here, so popular that it's spawned its own copycats. Someone had the clever idea of opening a Louisiana Fried Chicken here. KFC's lawyers would have the place shut down in about five minutes if they tried to open in the US!
One of the benefits of living in a relatively out-of-the-way country is being relatively beyond the reach of corporate America. In a previous post I wrote about the famous YakDonald's in Kagbeni, Nepal.
You know you're in a remote location when the McDonald's legal machine leaves you alone! While in Nepal you will see North Face gear literally everywhere. Except it's not North Face. There is an official North Face store in Kathmandu, which sells the genuine articles at genuine prices, but the vast majority of it is knockoffs. You can walk down the streets in Kathmandu or Pokhara and see people sitting at sewing machines embroidering the logo onto cheap fleeces, gloves, hats, etc.
On the Annapurna Circuit I spent a night in the North Face lodge in Jagat, which has no affiliation with North Face aside from the faithfully reproduced logo. Which begs the question, why is North Face the knock-off brand of choice? My theory is it's partly name recognition but mostly the simplicity of the logo.
The sans serif font is simple and easy to copy. The geometric design is simple and easy to copy.
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