RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 18 — Residents of Rio de Janeiro’s trendier areas have long viewed polystyrene coolers as distinctly uncool, associating them with the simple fare of beach vendors.

But with temperatures soaring during the Brazilian summer, the coolers have been gaining popularity in the city’s well-heeled areas as locals balk at high prices in bars ahead of the World Cup.

“What’s really uncool these days is to get ripped off by paying 10BRL (RM14) for a beer in a bar, 28-year-old Guigga Tomaz, a video jockey, said.

Tomaz is at the forefront of efforts to adopt the foam cooler as party animals seek to slake their thirst more affordably as temperatures hit 40°C in recent weeks.

The campaign resembles Spain’s “botellon” tradition, in which groups of friends hang out in squares or on the beach, avoiding the bars and instead bringing a bottle of their own to the party

In Rio, they call it the “isoporzinho” or “little refrigerator” — just one facet of a growing movement in Brazil to resist high prices that are on the constant rise months before the World Cup kicks off on June 12.

The campaign started off on Facebook last month and was swiftly dubbed “Rio $urreal”, a pun on “surreal” but also “real” — the Brazilian currency. More than 180,000 people have liked the page.

$urreal — it’s for real

“If you think the $urreal is Rio’s new currency, then join the campaign — ‘Don’t Pay A Surreal Price’,” say movement members.

The campaign is illustrated by bogus banknotes bearing the face of Spanish surrealist master Salvador Dali.

“We know there is a general feeling that we are being hit with abusive prices. If society doesn’t react strongly, things will get worse,” says site founder Daniela Name.

Prices of goods across the board have been rising well above the inflation rate (5.9 per cent in 2013), and Internet users have been complaining about it in droves.

A pitcher of pineapple juice costs 52BRL in a restaurant in the chic Rio district of Santa Teresa, and a sandwich goes for a whopping 99BRL in upscale beachside Leblon.

“When I got back from my holidays, a beer had gone up inside a fortnight from 7.5BRL to nine in my local bar,” complained Tomaz.

“I found it absurd and posted on Facebook that I was going to start using a cooler.”

The “isoporzinho” movement is gaining ground in other cities including business hub Sao Paulo, the capital Brasilia and Manaus in the Amazon region.

A first meet-up of isoporzinho fans drew 80 people last month.

“I didn’t know most of them. We did it again and now there are more than 200 on weekends,” says Tomaz.

Political act

With average monthly wages of just US$840 (RM2,767) and rents climbing up to 40 per cent with each lease renewal, there is a wind of icy revolt in the air among the cooler enthusiasts.

“It’s a political act. Everything is too expensive. Rio is an expensive city and run in a way that suits those who have money,” says Tomaz.

Deborah Turturro organized an “isoporzinho” on Rio’s iconic Copacabana beach.

“This beer costs 1.89BRL in a supermarket. In a bar it would cost six, seven or even eight,” she says.

Turturro predicts that, as more and more people resist, establishments will have to drop their high prices.

Some Rio bars have already dropped their beer prices by 15 per cent.

Others, including Casa Brasil which sells its beer for five reais on Sao Salvador square just outside the city centre, insist that the “isoporzinho” movement will not greatly affect them.

“It won’t change much. We have our regulars,” indicates the manager.

But Tomaz suggests otherwise.

Since his movement started, he says, “I’ve not gone back to a bar. We’re better off outside. We can walk about and interact. We’re not limited to a table which keeps people apart.” — AFP