“Ramadan in Egypt is something else” is one of the popular songs by UAE singer Hussein Al-Jassmi associated with the holy month of Ramadan. Listening to it one would imagine it was promoting tourism to Egypt, encouraging tourists from other Arab countries to experience Egypt’s Ramadan traditions. Instead, it was the song that accompanied the television Ramadan advertisement of one of the four telecommunications companies. That was back in 2021 and even though the song has lingered, no one remembers the ad.
Four years on, the same trend of advertising through catchy songs warm with feeling continues during the month of fasting. Even a public service advertisement promoting new simplified tax regulations targeted at small business has two young comedians singing a message encouraging businesses from dry cleaners and tailors to doctors and lawyers to present their books to the Ministry of Finance.
Over the years, telecommunications companies, real estate developers and charity organisations have become the top three categories advertising heavily throughout the month, says professor of advertising Nagwa Al-Gazzar. “It is their annual opportunity to remind viewers of the identity of their companies,” Al-Gazzar explained. Some of the ads are not promoting a specific product, she pointed out, but they are branding themselves.
Real estate developers, especially newcomers to the market, also take the opportunity to present their projects and financing incentives, Al-Gazzar said, especially at a time when buying real estate has become prohibitively expensive.
Ramadan is the ultimate primetime TV for advertising. Over 35 new TV series are airing this year throughout the month. A 30-second spot could cost over LE1 million depending on their placement. Millions of families coming together for the Iftar (dusk meal after fasting) often with friends, gather to watch the shows. They are a captive audience; advertisers’ message is bound to reach them, says Fatma Halim, senior communications consultant at Egyptian public relations firm Publicist Inc. Even the younger generations who prefer to watch streaming services cannot escape the messages being aired around Iftar, Halim said. That is why companies invest heavily in Ramadan ads, often employing multiple celebrities, and paying millions of pounds for television airtime. They want to create what is called a “top-of-mind awareness” so that their brand or product is the first to come to a consumer’s mind when thinking of a particular industry or product category, she explained, adding however, that some fail to deliver a message about the product or brand, leaving viewers at odds despite having invested heavily in the production of the ad.
The songs and dances associated with the advertisements have made them entertainment in themselves. At the outset of every Ramadan many people look forward to seeing what the ads look like and how brands have topped each other. “Ramadan ads are prepared five months ahead and companies do their best to try to find out what the others are doing and how many celebrities they are using,” Al-Gazzar said.
But why is it that songs dominate Ramadan ads? “Advertisers are betting on what works” even if there is a risk that viewers might not remember the product, noted Halim.
Even charity organisations have their jingles. “They are all competing for the attention of donors,” said Al-Gazzar, explaining that Ramadan is often the time when Muslims pay their annual zakat al-mal which entails giving away a small percentage of one’s wealth to the needy.
While in the past, charity ads used to feature heart-wrenching but at times cringe-worthy cases, be they burn victims or cancer patients, seeking the sympathy of viewers, in recent years they have changed tactics, Halim said. Now their ads often feature celebrities singing and dancing happily with survivors. They must have changed their tactics based on market research, explained Halim, adding that the tragedies displayed in the past were putting off viewers.
Another factor putting off viewers is the length of ads, often extending beyond the ideal length of 30 seconds. “The advertising breaks are also exceptionally long,” said Al-Gazzar, “and viewers forget what they were watching when the show resumes,” she noted, adding that some give up on continuing to watch and just leave.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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