2020 has been the year of canceled events, and for brands that planned to sponsor them, it's been a huge disappointment. But Romanian chocolate brand Rom has decided to capitalize on the cancellations for its own purposes.

The company is launching spin-off product Rom Buzz this year, and its marketing plan is to offer to sponsor a canceled event. The idea is that that Rom could never afford to back such a big to-do, but this year gives it an unprecedented opportunity. There's a website where you can browse its sponsorship package ideas, and it made pitch videos offering to support events such as a grass court tennis tournament, Europe's biggest soccer tournament and an international superhero conference (naming no names).

The campaign is by agency MRM/McCann in Bucharest, whose other work for the brand has included changing the image of Romanians on Google (from “stupid” to “smart”); educating people on the difference between Bucharest and Budapest and, back in 2011, provocatively replacing the Romanian flag on the product with a U.S. flag, igniting a wave of patriotism. 

"We wanted to bring a bit of optimism in the world by proposing a lighter tone of voice in a campaign that tackles the new normal,” said Catalin Dobre, chief creative officer at McCann Worldgroup Romania & regional creative director of McCann Central Eastern Europe, in a statement.

“When you have such a ballsy brand personality in your hands as we do with Rom, you feel you have to do it justice every time—yes, also during a pandemic. Enter the Romanian challenger thing once more, with the brand now twisting the worldwide negative narrative to its favor and coming up with this deliciously stupid ambition," added Ioana Zamfir, executive creative director at MRM Romania.