When McCann-Erickson Romania called SIT they were fighting a lack of interest from younger customers in one of their client’s brands: ROM chocolate.

The brilliant maneuver, initiated by SIT along with Adrian Botan, Creative Partner & Regional CD CEE McCann Erickson Romania, was subtracting the Romanian flag from the packaging and replacing it with an American flag. What resulted was a public challenge of the country’s patriotic ego covered by all of the national media. After one week of aggressive provocation and heated debates across the country, the original packaging returned along with a TV commercial clarifying the campaign as a joke.

The results of this campaign were staggering. In addition to lifting Romanian pride, the campaign generated 300 000 Euro of free publicity and ROM took over the title of Romania’s most popular chocolate bar (a 79% increase). As well, the campaign won 9 awards at the Festival of Cannes, including two Grand Prix Cannes Lions; a first for Romania. After receiving the awards, Adrian Botan thanked SIT for their involvement in the campaign, recognizing their role in providing and applying the systematic and efficient framework that generated the creative solution.