Discovered on 04/04/2023 at Mercado Central, Trujillo. I generally don’t consume carbonated sugary soft drinks, but while in Peru I started drinking regularly Inka Kola. Inka Kola is considered the Peruvian national refreshing beverage, invented in 1935 by British immigrant Joseph Robinson Lindley and widely advertised throughout the 20th century as “¡De Sabor Nacional!” (Made of National Flavor!), and “El Sabor del Perú’’ (The taste of Peru). Inka Kola can be found on any corner of Trujillo and Lima, successfully sold by street vendors, tents, and bars as well as expensive restaurants and luxurious hotels. You cannot miss it. The packaging is iconic, bright yellow and deep blue, with Inca-inspired decorations. The drink is golden and it is composed of thirteen herbs including lemon verbena, known as Hierba Luisa in Peru. The afternoon of 04/04/2023 was especially sultry, Chavez invited me to follow them in the labyrinthic Mercado Central in Trujillo. The market is a true wonder, from flavoured dry fish and fresh meat to curative plants and shamanic amulets. Counterfeit designer shoes and custom printing services. You can find anything in there. Endless passages and busy crossroads lead you to endless discoveries. Second-hand household items, car repair shops, inflatable balloons of any shape and form, and animals of all kinds. The market is so large that cannot be explored in a single session. In the heat, as I tried to keep up with Chavez’s fast-paced walk among a sea of people, I began to feel desperately thirsty. On small pathways, I made space for myself and found Chavez not far in the crowd. I told them we should stop to get some chilled Inka Kola. They said we could find it anywhere and kept walking at full speed. I stopped, I knew I was about to get lost but I didn’t care. I needed a cold drink and some rest. I backtracked as I remembered about a busy tent with a large green fridge two or three crossroads behind me. I walked at my own pace, and slowly but surely I got closer to the green fridge. I passed by one of the many shoe vendor, enchanted by how accurate their sneaker replicas were. They sell them for about £20 and many Peruvians buy their shoes there. I finally saw the green fridge, which was thin and tall. About thirty Inka Kola were sitting inside the fridge. I asked for two bottles. When the seller was extracting them from the refrigerator, I looked on top of the fridge. High up, out of reach without a chair, I noticed a mysterious item. Six Inka Kola bottles as legs and a yellow counterfeit Adidas tennis shoe. The colours were beautifully paired, with an impeccable chromatic and formal composition. I inquired about the item, the vendor said that her brother found the object in his kitchen, one afternoon when returning home from work. He subsequently gifted her because she was selling the popular drink in her tent. She then placed it on top of the fridge as an advertising tool to attract more clients. I sensed right away that the object could be a UPO. Enchanted by its charm I proposed the vendor to buy it. I offered her 250 SOL the equivalent of a little more than £50. She was positively surprised by the generous proposal, and willingly agreed to my offer, gifting me the two Inka Kola bottles I ordered earlier. When I met again Chavez in the market maze, we enjoyed together the golden drinks. I showed them the rare item, and we thoroughly discussed the effects of hypercapitalism in contemporary Peru. Inka Kola is a worldwide recognised Peruvian symbol, but also the result of a capitalistic venture by the originally British Lindley family. Furthermore, the Inka Kola trademark was acquired by the US Coca-Cola Company in 1999. With a unique agreement in which Lindley’s Corporación Inca Kola Perú S.A. and Corporación Lindley S.A. retain full ownership of the Inca Kola trademark in Peru while the Coca-Cola Company has international control. The impact of branding strategies and US financial markets is palpable in most areas of today’s Peru. The Spanish colonisation heavily impacted every aspect of the indigenous South America and drastically modified the future of the country. The presumed UPO, that I acquired at the market, sums up the contradictions that make today’s Peru. Counterfeit sneakers, Inka Kola bottles, and the sharp social and economic divide between rich and poor Peruvians. The ones who can afford genuine branded goods and live in spacious villas from those who are below the poverty line and live in slums. A seductive item which tells us contemporary histories that too often are forgotten and erased by Western readings of reality.