Hasta La Creative!

Two Cannes ago, Romania definitively put its stamp on the advertising world, thanks to a brilliant campaign by chocolate-bar brand ROM that played on nationalistic pride.

Turns out, it wasn’t enough, since plenty of people around the world still mistake the country’s capital, Bucharest, for Hungary’s capital city, Budapest. The problem has been going on for years, with pop stars like Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz saying they were in Budapest when they weren’t, and bands from Iron Maiden to Whitesnake to Metallica showing that they couldn’t even be bothered to check Wikipedia to make sure they were getting it right. But it got really, really bad, when 400 soccer fans flew to Budapest for a Europa League match that was actually happening in Bucharest.

ROM and McCann set out to clear up the confusion with a fun, integrated campaign, dubbed Bucharest Not Budapest. There’s a video tutorial, as well as a digital component that lets you download a browser add-on that adds “not Budapest” to every mention of Bucharest on the web. There’s also a “news” section and resources that will help Romanians spread the word.

Continue reading at AdAge.com