Candy Bar Explains It Once Again: Bucharest Is Not Budapest!

Did you know that Bucharest is not Budapest? Although there are plenty of differences between the capital of Romania and the capital of neighboring country Hungary, it seems to be hard to not confuse the two cities. That’s why the Romanian candy bar brand ROM came up with a campaign to make clear once and for all that Bucharest is something different than Budapest.

With the marketing campaign ROM hopes to connect with all those Romanians who are sick and tired of explaining to foreigners where they live. The candy bars can help them as the words “Bucharest not Budapest” are written on them. Furthermore, the bars are wrapped in a yellow, blue, red package that refers to the Romanian flag. This should make it clear to all.

Bucharest not Budapest

This video explains the need for such a campaign. A series of awkward situations in the past has driven Bucharest crazy. In 1990 Michael Jackson shouted “Hello Budapest!” during a performance in Bucharest. The King of Pop was not the only one — also artists and bands like Iron Maiden, Morcheeba, Lenny Kravitz, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake did not consult Wikipedia before climbing the stage. More painful examples can be found in the so-called Gallery of Mistakes on the Bucharest Not Budapest website. The absolute peak was reached in 2012, when 400 Athletic Bilbao fans missed the Europa League final after they took a flight to Budapest instead of Bucharest.

Bucharest not Budapest

Bucharest not Budapest

Bucharest not Budapest

Bucharest not Budapest

Bucharest not Budapest

In other words: it’s time to tell the world how it really is. ROM installed billboards in both capitals that remind everyone where they are. On the Internet the official ‘Bucharest not Budapest’ add-on helps to end confusion between the two cities by adding a “Not Budapest” label every time “Bucharest” is mentioned on websites. Moreover, Romanians are encouraged to share their typical Bucharest/Budapest stories on Facebook and Twitter and use the tag #BucharestNotBudapest.

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