McDonald’s Germany launches DOOH Ramadan ad campaign using sun-synced tech

Most brands add a crescent moon to their Ramadan Mubarak ads and call it a day for cultural marketing, but it is what was removed from McDonald’s Germany ad that has people talking.

To mark the month of Ramadan that Muslims all across the world observe by fasting from sunrise to sunset, McDonald’s Germany decided to trade temptation for thoughtfulness.

The fast food giant did that by displaying the classic McDonald’s creatives on digital billboards sans the food in them. Think of a billboard with the red-and-yellow fries container, minus the fries, and a closed burger box with no burger in sight.

The empty food packaging on the digital billboards was synced with the fasting clock to fill up with food in real time when Muslims concluded their fast.  

Created by Scholz & Friends, a German marketing agency, this Happy Ramadan initiative aligned with local prayer times to show consideration for fasting individuals.

While McDonald's recall value is closely associated with the imagery of its crispy fries, which evoke warmth even from a billboard, and its diet-wrecking, juicy burgers that thrive on temptation, the brand has chosen to eliminate these elements to convey a specific message.

This isn’t the only time McDonald’s has tailored its advertising to appeal to fasting Muslims. During Ramadan 2025, McDonald’s Indonesia launched a campaign called Satu Rasa (One Heart, One Taste), which showed two brothers bickering throughout the day but reconciling at a McDonald’s during a shared meal at sunset. 

The campaign also promoted a localised menu, including Ayam McD Lengkuas (fried chicken seasoned with galangal/blue ginger) with Sambal Bajak (a traditional Indonesian chilli paste stir-fried with shrimp paste, tamarind, and palm sugar), to honour Indonesian flavours.

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Another international campaign, titled Indahnya Ramadan (The Beauty of Ramadan) by McDonald’s Malaysia, was launched in 2025, capturing relatable micro-moments such as the rush of the pre-dawn meal (Sahur) or accidentally offering a drink to a fasting friend, reworking them as moments to be thankful for. 

Moral of the story? The fast food giant has sacrificed its food for the sake of fast often enough to reposition itself as fasting food.