Today while going through Facebook’s news feed, I ran across a campaign that couldn’t possibly leave me indifferent.
On the 1st of December, Romania celebrates its national day. With this occasion, ROM, an old rum-chocolate brand, decided to launch the campaign Romanians are Smart. The idea behind it is that if you type in the Google search bar Romanians are, the suggestions that pop up are far from putting us in a good light. Therefore the wish is to change Romania’s image by searching the phrase Romanians are smart (in English as well as other well known languages) so that hopefully, in the future, it will be among Google’s search suggestions.
Personally I haven’t faced any problems caused by the fact that I am Romanian. But I know that many of my friends did and it is just unfair that the whole world judges us without even being aware of how Romanians actually are. Our country is famous all over the world due to the gypsies that only know how to cheat and steal. But what people forget is that the fact that they speak Romanian doesn’t actually mean they are Romanians. As a matter of fact many years ago the gypsies from Romania fought to be recognized as Roms.
When foreigners come to visit Romania, they are so surprised by what they find that some of them never want to leave again! A friend of mine told me about this American guy that calls himself Sam the Romanian one. He left US for good to become a Romanian and he is very proud of it! His motto is I’m more Romanian than you. So if he can be proud of it, than so should we.
And if I still haven’t convinced you, here’s a video that maybe will. I hope that next time you’re on Google you’ll give us a hand and tell the world that Romanians are smart!
from the attic 
November 18th, 2011 at 03:30
oh you’re not the only one! the Filipinos too have been subjected to such stereotyping and it really sucks. i wish that people start learning about other countries and cultures so that they don’t give sweeping generalizations and labeling people as this or that. and if i may suggest, they should travel to those countries so they experience it first hand… nice campaign, by the way, the “Romanians are smart”! :-)
November 18th, 2011 at 05:38
Wow , no judgement from me ;)
November 18th, 2011 at 08:03
Thanks to both of you :-)
November 18th, 2011 at 08:29
Your post appears on google on first page if you search for: romanians are smart. To be more precise, you’re on 4th place ;)
November 18th, 2011 at 08:54
cool :-D
November 19th, 2011 at 09:03
Thank you very much Paula for what you are doing for the whole nation.
November 19th, 2011 at 12:45
I’m not really doing much, but thanks :-)
November 20th, 2011 at 15:51
[…] the last post, my blog has been subject to an uncommon number of visitors. Therefore I decided to make a […]
November 20th, 2011 at 22:56
very interesting post Paula! i’m so sorry you feel this way, but, unfortunately, it’s true that many people around the world learn about other countries, cultures, religions, activities etc through stereotypes and don’t take the time to discover the full truth…I can’t even imagine what many people think about Greece and Greeks these days (due to the financial crisis etc), although I’ve heard both good and bad opinions!
as for the video, I’d definitely agree that Romanian women are by far the prettiest! ;-)
November 20th, 2011 at 23:26
Thanks Petros :-)
February 5th, 2012 at 23:16
funny thing about this campaign is, we’re not smart. in fact we’re some of the dumbest assholes on planet earth.
that’s just the truth. why do you think basescu is president? at least we’re creative tough lol what other nation would tryh to change the image of it’s country by typing stuff in google? but they could of choose something different to type in , liuke “romanians are not gipsyes” or something
February 6th, 2012 at 08:22
I am sorry you feel that way and I don’t agree with you. And if people where stupid enough to just go along with Basescu as president, there would be no protests going on while it’s -10 degrees outside. Obviously not everybody in Romania is smart, the same way you find stupid people in every single country. But that doesn’t mean we’re all stupid. And I am not sure if the campaign was just to change the Google search terms, but more to make us and the others in the world aware of how we actually are. As far as I know, the campaign received international attention.
February 15th, 2012 at 22:57
Well i always thought romanian are awsome when i was in grade 5-6 my best friend was from romania she use too have 100’s in every subject you cant know how i love her.Then when i moved in my new school my favourite teacher and 1 of the smartest i think is from romania as well as the best student i our class.Although i am from bangladesh i love romanian people i want to visit the countrie later on.
February 16th, 2012 at 07:22
Cool, I am glad to hear that :-) You should really visit Romania, it’s a very beautiful country! I have a few posts (archive August 2011) about things I visited this summer in Romania, it might be interesting for you to check them :-)
July 5th, 2012 at 18:28
I found out about this blog a few months ago, but it wasn’t until recently that I started reading it thoroughly. I particularly loved this post and already shared it on my wall on FB. Hopefully, you won’t mind it Paula. I love your blog btw! ;)
July 5th, 2012 at 18:50
It would be a bity silly of me to mind :-) I am glad that you like it. Thanks!