Romanian ad campaign inviting Brits to Romania gets gold at 2013 AdStars festival

A Romanian advertising campaign responding to the UK’s fears over Romanian immigration has won gold at one of Asia’s biggest ad festivals. Romanian online newspaper Gandul’s and GMP agency's campaign Why Don’t You Come Over? won gold at the 2013 AdStars in Korea. Launched in early-2013, the campaign was a response to the British Don’t come to UK campaign, aimed at discouraging Romanian citizens who want to live and work in the UK. The paper has been running a series of adverts encouraging Brits to visit, with the cheeky caption “We may not like Britain, but you’ll love Romania.” One of the adverts celebrates the good looks of Romanian women and makes a connection to Princess Kate saying: “Half of our women look like Kate, the other half, like her sister”. Another ad reminds that Prince Charles has bought houses in Romania, and that here “Harry has never been photographed naked once.” Another one features a reference to what the presenters of popular UK motoring program Top Gear said about Romania’s Transfagarasan high altitude road. They described the breathtaking mountain route as “the best road in the world,” after taking three sports cars to Romania to investigate claims that the highway, built on the orders of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, was a great driving road. Ad Stars 2013 is one of the biggest ad festivals in Asia and only ad festival in Korea. It received more 12,000 entries this year, a 15.8 percent increase compared to the previous year. Some 1,700 entries were selected for the final, of which 180 won the Main Prize and 140 entries won the Special Prize. The festival’s Grand Prix of the Year in the PSA section went to TXTBKS campaign by Philippines’ DDB DM9JaymeSyfu/Digit, while the Grand Prix of the Year in the product and service section went to Bridge of Life by Cheil Worldwide, a Korean ad agency. More about the Why Don’t You Come Over? campaign on its official website here. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com