The advertising of Romanian brands has known a sterling `invasion` of traditional themed messages. One of the most prominent adverts belongs to the `Undelemn de la Bunica` brand, which took off in the 1998. The creators of this brand were the ones that set a trend of using traditional themed messages in the field of advertising.
The communist era has forced a fake, populist traditional image to justify its political discourse. In a society fed up with such traditional populist messages, a new brand that uses the idyllic `Bunica (Grandma)` appears. `Undelemn de la Bunica` brings forth the childhood existence of the grandmother that makes food better than `mama makes it`, using only natural and trustworthy ingredients
Even though the basic message was not clearly traditional, the `bunica` was closely linked to the world of the typical Romanian grandmother, with ties to traditions, rituals and, most importantly, to the rural world. `Bunica` has started a race of `authenticity` in publicity, a race in which other brands like `Boromir`, `Pate Ardealul`, `Napolact`, `Covalact` and so on, entered. From the years of 2000, the national brands’ marketing messages have begun to introduce new and more complex traditional symbols in their communication strategies. Good examples of such elements are the usage of the collocations `tradițional (traditional)`, `ca la țară (from the rural village)’, of images or symbols from the local folklore ornaments, of brand characters which `conjure` tradition.
The main purpose of this paper is to identify the relations between traditional cultural capital elements, the brand’s communication efforts and the receiving public. For the research conducted in this article, two local dairy brands, with tradition in Romania, have been chosen. The data analyzed is collected from secondary sources.