McDonald’s Shifts the Focus on UAE's Roads, From Food to Impact
McDonald’s is back on Dubai’s roads with a new outdoor presence that shifts the focus from food to impact. It highlights the company’s efforts to prioritize people and the environment. Unlike its December campaign, which took a broader approach to brand sentiment, this new effort is more targeted. It emphasizes what McDonald’s does beyond the counter and how those actions quietly fit into everyday life.
The billboards, in all formats and locations, avoid food altogether. No burgers, no fries, no deals. Instead, every execution consists of a brief, pointed message about McDonald’s activity beyond the counter. One board reads, “The good you don’t order,” acting as the campaign’s anchor line. Others follow with clear, factual messages like “Your McDonald’s converts its oil into clean fuel,” “McDonald’s grows young stars,” and “You back their crew.” The longest bridge execution also remains in sync, declaring in Arabic that "McDonald’s coffee is sourced from sustainable sources", reaching the same message but in a totally different perspective.
“There’s more to your order than what’s on your tray.” It’s a simple message that’s being expressed throughout all of the images: “The good you don’t order.” It’s rather one-note on the surface. But on the road, not so much. It’s how this brand wants to be interpreted. It’s looking away from the food and all the things that are never going to end up in an advertising shot of a combo box: the local vendors, the sources all the way from farm to tray, the team environment, social responsibility, and eco-responsibility. In other words, the things that never show up in a combo meal photo make the operation work.
What ties the boards together is the color scheme. Warm yellows and oranges dominate, instantly recognizable as McDonald’s without needing the logo to work overtime. The layouts are simple: one clear line, one supporting visual, plenty of breathing room. Even when the message shifts from environment to people, the visual system stays the same, which helps the campaign feel cohesive rather than scattered.
The campaign has popped up in the fourth week of December on lampposts, uni-poles, and digital Screens across Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman.
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