ROM, made by Kandia Dulce, is the traditional Romanian chocolate bar wrapped in the national flag. It has a nostalgic consumer base. But with younger Romanians it was losing ground to cooler American brands.
So McCann Erickson Bucharest launched “The American Takeover.” ROM’s familiar wrapper was replaced with an American-flag version to provoke the country’s ego and force a reaction. It is a risky deception, because the packaging is the product’s identity.
In heritage FMCG categories, packaging is not a skin. It is a symbol people feel they own.
The trick was not the wrapper, it was the public reflex
The campaign doesn’t try to persuade with copy. It creates a cultural irritant and then lets people do the storytelling for it. The outrage, debate, and defensiveness are the mechanism that “refreshes” ROM back into relevance for the people who had stopped paying attention.
The reveal is what makes the stunt more than trolling. The brand flips the wrapper back and turns the backlash into a point about identity, pride, and what it means when local icons try to imitate foreign cool.
Why it worked: it made “cool” feel like betrayal
Younger audiences often default to global brands because the signals are easy. ROM makes that default choice emotionally expensive for a moment. When you see a national icon wearing another flag, you are forced to pick a side, even if you didn’t plan to care.
Standalone takeaway: If you want to revive a heritage brand with youth, you can borrow attention from the culture war around it. But you must do it with a clear reversal and a clear message, otherwise you just burn trust.
What McCann actually engineered
- A single visual change that could be understood instantly.
- A provocation that invited discussion beyond advertising channels.
- A redemption arc that lets the audience feel proud again, and lets the brand look clever rather than cynical.
What to steal if you are refreshing a legacy brand
- Change one symbol, not everything. One sharp deviation creates clarity and talkability.
- Build a reversible stunt. You need a planned way back to safety once the reaction peaks.
- Let people carry the message. When the audience argues for you, the brand feels revalidated.
- Respect the sacred bits. If the brand has a national or cultural role, treat it like identity, not aesthetics.
- Make the reveal the moral. The stunt is the hook. The reveal is the brand meaning.
A few fast answers before you act
What is “The American Takeover” for ROM?
It is a campaign where ROM replaced its Romanian-flag wrapper with an American-flag version to provoke public backlash, then used the reaction to reassert Romanian pride and renew interest in the brand.
Why was the wrapper switch so risky?
Because ROM’s wrapper is a national symbol as much as a pack design. When you touch that symbol, people react emotionally, not rationally.
What did the campaign win?
It went on to win top honours at Cannes Lions, including the Grand Prix in Promo & Activation, and it is also credited with winning the Direct Grand Prix.
What is the core lesson for consumer brands?
If your brand is culturally owned, you can regain relevance by staging a public argument about what it stands for. But the argument must end in a respectful reaffirmation, not a cheap shock.
When should you not copy this approach?
If you cannot control the reversal, if the symbol you are provoking is too sensitive, or if your brand does not have enough goodwill to survive a week of anger.