Travel brand campaigns are usually all about the joy of either travel or cheaper costs. This one, by ARK for for loveholidays, is all about the joy of crisps. On Thursday, July 4, the agency installed a one-of-a-kind crisps pop-up to London, inviting visitors to travel the world one crunch at a time.

Crisps From Abroad transformed the space into a snack-lover’s dream, with walls covered floor-to-ceiling in crisps and more than 4,600 bags from all over the world. Everyone who visited could take home their favourite flavour for free, and the freebies extended to crisp-themed T-shirts and sun cream bottles for the first 50 people to join the queue each day. A £3,000 holiday was up for grabs, determined by votes from the blind tasting challenge and a roster of food and lifestyle creators – including Ash The Foodie, Georgina King of Eat.Snack.Repeat, samsational_eats – captured the most shareable moments for their combined audiences.

The activation was promoted by a wave of fly-posting across London in the run-up to launch. 

Behind the idea is a real connection for Brits between crisps and holidays. New research from loveholidays found more than half (57%) of holidaymakers try new crisp flavours while abroad. Three in 10 even believe crisps taste better abroad, and 39% love trying flavours unavailable in the UK. The research also revealed 29% eat more crisps on holiday than at home, while a quarter (25%) even bring them back in their suitcase — proving that for many, discovering new flavours abroad is all part of the adventure.

“Everyone seems to have that one crisp flavour they can’t stop talking about after a holiday. The one they filled their suitcase with, searched for online and wished they could buy back home.” said Al Murray, chief marketing officer, loveholidays, stated, “We’ve created Crisps from Abroad to bring some of those iconic flavours together under one roof and invite people to put their tastebuds to the test. From familiar favourites to flavours people may never have seen before, this pop-up is all about reliving your favourite holiday memories and discovering new flavours. We think it’s going to spark plenty of debate about which destination does crisps best.”

Xander Hart, creative partner, ARK Agency,added,“Everyone comes back from holiday convinced they’ve found the world’s greatest crisp. The one from the agriturismo in Sicily, the night market in Bangkok or the supermarché in Marseille. loveholidays know that feeling, food is always part of why you love a place. Not the restaurant food. The stuff you grabbed at a corner shop, ate on a wall, brought three extra bags of to the airport. Crisps From Abroad is a shop built around that obsession, and one very simple question: which country has the best crisps? That part we’re leaving to the public.”