“Messi-Mania” helps companies in Argentina out of crisis

For months, Argentina has been in a massive economic crisis that is affecting large parts of the population. There are exceptions for those who have a special customer – namely football star Messi.

San Miguel is a densely populated suburb of Buenos Aires that has seen better days. In the middle of it all, in a workshop behind his modest family home, José Guillermo Fernández Parillas makes grills. Argentinians love meat – so it’s actually a crisis-proof product.

But with inflation rates in the three-digit range, business finally came to a standstill – until he made a special model: “This is our captain’s grill,” says José – made of stainless steel. “Here, in the area where the fire is lit, we have stamped a ten. It lights up when the fire is lit. There are also the three World Cup stars on the lid. And here is the picture of Leo making his famous gesture towards the sky.”

The point is: one of these captain’s grills – the original model, to be precise – is now on a terrace in Miami, the terrace of none other than Messi himself. And José Guillermo, who was on the verge of bankruptcy just a few months ago, is now in the process of expanding.

Instagram message from Messi

But let’s start from the beginning: “At the end of 2023, I was actually only working to keep my five employees. But at some point it was no longer possible,” says José. He applied for a loan from the bank. “So that I could at least pay the guys off for Christmas. I was devastated. But one afternoon a message suddenly popped up from someone with a blue tick: Messi was there. I thought it was a scam, but the profile had 500 million followers. My hand started shaking.”

You have to know that proper, robust Argentinian grills are highly sought after in the exile community, and there are lots of groups on the subject on social networks. José Guillermo also posted his models. And as luck would have it, a friend of Messi’s, his wife’s cousin, bought a grill just like that. And after a joint asado – a barbecue – Messi wanted one too.

“You have to give him the grill”

And so José Guillermo got to work in San Miguel. The only problem was that he no longer had the money to buy the expensive stainless steel. “Everyone told me you had to give him the grill. And I was like, what? I didn’t even have any money left to pay my employees.”

Messi’s wife Antonella then sent the money. There was just one more problem: “One day after it arrived here, the government devalued the national currency. The money was suddenly only worth half as much.” This is because the prices for the materials are based on the US dollar. “I had lost half my budget overnight.”

In the end, everything worked out. And José Guillermo asked Antonella for permission to publish a post about it on Instagram. A short time later, he had 6,000 orders in his inbox – from the USA, Brazil, and even Vietnam.

Isolated cases in economically weak Argentina

José Guillermo’s grills are not the only products that have received support from the captain: sales at a churros bakery and a flip-flop manufacturer have also skyrocketed since Messi took an interest in them.

Luciano Gianzi is the manufacturer of the light blue and white Messi flip-flops. Being an entrepreneur in Argentina is very risky, says the entrepreneur. You have to be daring and have strong nerves in the face of economic chaos. “We were touched by Messi’s magic wand, but dozens of other colleagues are fighting for survival every day,” says Gianzi.

“That’s why we love him”

Grill producer José Guillermo has also been able to increase his workforce fivefold. He is currently working on opening a branch in the USA – from San Miguel to Miami, so to speak.

“I don’t know if Messi is aware of what he is producing,” he says. “He already has a grill. But he wanted our product from Argentina and wrote to us as if it were the most normal thing in the world. That’s why we love him. Even though he’s not actually from this world.”