The campaign set out to prove the excellent quality and freshness of Achla hummus. All Israelis love hummus, and each has their own opinion on where to find the best hummus. The campaign would send Achla right to the heart of this debate, by opening a hummus bar in the heart of Tel Aviv, where people come from far and wide to get their favourite dish. What looked like an independent hummus restaurant was, without the customers’ knowledge, in fact serving Achla hummus, a popular packaged hummus brand sold in supermarkets across the country.

To prove that Achla’s packaged hummus is just as fresh and high quality as the hummus you can buy from a restaurant.

The restaurant attracted over 2000 customers during the two weeks it was open, and they paid on average 25 shekels, which is 20% more than the average price of a hummus meal. Consumers’ responses to the hummus they received at ‘Avi’s Hummus’ were massively complimentary, e.g. “love at first bite”. Even Time Out Tel Aviv’s restaurant critic had great things to say, and had no idea he was being served something that could have been bought off a supermarket shelf. Once the secret had been revealed the product became the product the fastest-growing brand in its category, with a 71% rise in sales.

For a truly ambient experience, the idea relied on the realistic execution of opening a pop-up hummus restaurant in central Tel Aviv called ‘Avi’s Hummus’. Authenticity was key, so that customers would get the true hummus bar experience while eating their Achla hummus. And though this activity took place in a single location, as part of the planning journalists were informed about the story exactly two weeks after the opening to ensure that the revelation of the restaurant’s secret was broadcast in a coordinated way on national TV news, newspapers, on leading websites, and on Facebook. As the restaurant closed its doors, all takings were donated to charity.

The campaign set out to prove the excellent quality and freshness of Achla hummus. All Israelis love hummus, and each has their own opinion on where to find the best hummus. The campaign would send Achla right to the heart of this debate, by opening a hummus bar in the heart of Tel Aviv, where people come from far and wide to get their favourite dish. What looked like an independent hummus restaurant was, without the customers’ knowledge, in fact serving Achla hummus, a popular packaged hummus brand sold in supermarkets across the country.

By providing consumers with the impression of a true hummus bar, but selling Achla hummus, we aimed to disprove, once and for all, the perception that restaurant hummus is always better than packaged brands. And by operating a novel ‘pay by taste’ system for charging, consumers were attracted in droves. The prospect of cheap (or even free) hummus got people talking, telling their friends and bringing more and more people to taste Achla’s hummus. Having achieved these goals the story would then be revealed to the media with precise planning.