The American Takeover
Rom (Kandia Dulce)2010
The American Takeover is a 2010 packaging stunt and integrated campaign for Rom, created by McCann Erickson Romania, Bucharest.
The line
The taste of coolness
Why it works
In October 2010 Rom, a chocolate bar sold in Romania since 1964 and always wrapped in the national flag, appeared on shelves in a Stars and Stripes wrapper, backed by TV spots, posters and a website promising “the taste of coolness”. Young Romanians who had shrugged at national pride were furious: Facebook groups sprang up, flash mobs protested and the switch made the national news. After about a week the tricolour wrapper returned and the brand admitted the provocation. The case is studied as reverse psychology on a national scale: instead of lecturing a disillusioned, emigration-minded generation about patriotism, the brand took a familiar symbol away so people would fight for it. According to the agency, it earned around €300,000 in free media and lifted market share by 79%. At Cannes 2011 it won Grands Prix in both Promo & Activation and Direct, Romania's first, plus one of only three Titanium Lions awarded that year.
Techniques
- Shock and provocation Swaps the bar's familiar national-flag wrapper for the Stars and Stripes, deliberately provoking young Romanians into outrage.
- Transfer Relies on the Romanian flag long printed on the wrapper, so taking it away makes people fight for both the symbol and the brand.
- Pathos Stirs national pride in a disillusioned generation by threatening something they took for granted, rather than lecturing them about patriotism.
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