Pumper Nic (shortened to Pumper after 1989) was a popular chain of fast-food

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

that existed in the 1970s and 1980s. It is currently considered by many Argentines to be a cult classic. Its name is derived from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

pumpernickel Pumpernickel (; ) is a typically heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with sourdough starter and coarsely ground rye. It is sometimes made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye grains ("rye berries"). At one time it was ...

, a type of

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

History

Pumper Nic was created by Alfredo Lowenstein in 1974, also an ex-owner of Quickfood, parent company of the renowned

Argentine beef Beef is a key component of traditional Argentine cuisine. History Cattle were first brought to Argentina in 1536 by Spanish ''conquistadors''. Due to the geography of the Pampas and a small national market, the cattle multiplied rapidly. Railw ...

hamburger supplier ''Paty'' –which was in turn founded by his brother Ernesto–, and the Las Leñas tourist complex. In 1975 the company became Argentina's first franchise and quickly expanded throughout the country, reaching a total of 70 restaurants and an annual revenue of 60 million dollars. The chain's rapid growth made it extremely difficult for its headquarters in Buenos Aires to keep a grip on the franchisees. A combination of poor management and a lack of standardization caused food quality to vary greatly between the restaurants. Pumper Nic's

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

was based upon

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

's, before the latter began operating in

. When

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

and Burger King opened their first venues in the country in 1986 and 1989 respectively, Pumper Nic was forced to change its logo and have its name shortened to ''Pumper'' due to a lawsuit by Burger King. Lowenstein handed over Pumper Nic in 1990 to his sons Diego and Paula, who had little interest in running the business. The family sold the chain in 1995 and started from scratch by associating themselves with

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...

, which had just opened its first restaurant in the country. Furthermore, the franchise system collapsed in its entirety the following year. Pumper Nic's new owners, real estate agents Goldstein and Rosenbaum, were unable to relaunch the company. Unable to compete with larger American fast-food chains, Pumper Nic finally declared bankruptcy in early 1999. A last Pumper Nic restaurant is still remained opened in Moreno, until now.

Products

Pumper Nic's signature sandwich was the ''Mobur'', a sandwich with an egg in between. One of their famous menu items was ''Dos por uno'' − two burgers for the price of one.

French fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

were called ''Frenys''. Names of other Pumper Nic sandwiches include: Jaque (jamon y queso, ham and cheese) and Jaque'H.

Slogans

Their most famous tagline was "''Pumper Nic, the new way of dining''" (Spanish: ''La nueva forma de comer'').

In popular culture

Nic the hippo is featured among the animals that escape from the Los Angeles Zoo during an earthquake that hits

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the Oscar-winning animated

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Logorama ''Logorama'' is a 2009 French adult animated short film co-written and directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain ( H5), and produced by Autour de Minuit. Set in a stylized version of Los Angeles, the short portrays events t ...

'' (2009).

References

{{reflist Defunct fast-food chains Defunct restaurants in Argentina Fast-food chains of Argentina Fast-food franchises Food and drink companies based in Buenos Aires

History

Products

Slogans

In popular culture

See also

References