Netsuite emails > IF statement for custom fields

Details: Custom field: Sub Item | Custom field ID: entity18

I'm trying to display values of a custom field in an email. When I type ${customer.entity18} in the email, it shows the right value.

However, I want to write an IF statement. Something like this: <#if (customer.entity18) == "Hello"> HTML </#if>

But I'm clearly missing out something, because this IF statement isn't working. Any recommendations?