The task: Convince people that Dr Oetker Ristorante frozen pizza is as good as one cooked by a professional.

Yes, it is daunting, isn’t it?

Murray White, executive creative director, BWM Dentsu Melbourne, teases his creatives’ solution, “We knew with a campaign for frozen pizza we would be going up against a lot of preconceived ideas about quality and taste. In order to get past this common perception we decided to literally keep our guests in the dark about what they were eating.”

BWM Dentsu and the POP agency hosted a dining in the dark at “Scuro Ristorante” on behalf of Dr Oetker Ristorante.

AFL celebrities, bloggers and foodies were invited to have dinner in the dark at what they thought was a modern pop-up restaurant. But while they were eating their pizzas in the dark, the restaurant set rotated sneakily and was transformed into a lounge room.

When the guests had finished eating, the lights were turned on and the guests realised two things. The second was that they had eaten Dr. Oetker Ristorante frozen pizza.

This is the film:

“Dining in our dark pop-up restaurant allowed people to let their tastebuds do the decision making and proved that Dr. Oetker Ristorante pizza is such a premium product that it rivals fresh, professionally cooked pizza. We’re confident we can maintain this messaging throughout the advertising campaign and introduce more Australians to the idea that you can have restaurant-quality pizza in the luxury of your own home,” White added.

Paula Wyatt, executive marketing manager – Pizza, Dr. Oetker, commented, “We know household penetration of frozen pizza in Australia is low compared to other developed markets. We wanted a way to convey that frozen pizza doesn’t have to be a compromise, and to do this an engaging and challenging way. The Scuro Ristorante event was a first step towards positioning Dr. Oetker Ristorante as a positive choice that offers consumers convenience without compromising on taste and quality,” Wyatt said.

To promote the Scuro Ristorante activation, BWM Dentsu created a microsite, and social media handles including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. A radio promotion on Nova ran for one week to secure attendees to the Scuro Ristorante launch.

The Dr. Oetker Ristorante campaign is running across TV, in-store and online.

Creative credits:

Agency: BWM Dentsu

Executive creative director: Murray White

Creative director: Ryan Purcell

Creatives: Chris Plummer & Tom Opie

Senior onscreen producer: Sonia McIaverty

Lead user experience architect: Mark Smith

Head of digital experience: Mikael Perhirin

Social media manager: Ellison Bloomfield

Production company: Truce Films

Director: Nicholas Clifford

Producers: Michael Ciccone & Jim Wright

Cinematographer: Tom David

Production Designer: Tierney MacGregor

Editors: Luke Dickenson, Nigel Randall