Which Global Brands Are Most Associated With Ramadan?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community.
And despite it being first and foremost a spiritual period, business activity in certain sectors – food, retail, and entertainment – tends to rise in Muslim-majority countries.
As a result, some global brands have begun to see this period as an opportunity to market their identity, leaning in on the theme of connection and community.
TGM Research conducted a survey in 2023, asking 9,672 respondents in 15 countries a variety of questions. One of them included:
Which brands come to mind first when thinking of Ramadan?
Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualizes their responses in the graphic above and delve into a little bit of detail below.
Ranked: Global Brands Associated With Ramadan
Coca-Cola leads the lists with 8.1% of those surveyed picking the beverage giant as the brand they most associate with Ramadan.
In case this comes as a surprise, Coca-Cola has launched numerous ad campaigns for Ramadan in previous years, focusing on spreading happiness and kindness, drawing upon the power of human connection to create a positive image of the brand.
In second place is the Marjan Group, a producer of water tanks and filtration systems, with about half (4.3%) of Coke’s presence.
At third, is another beverage company, Vimto, founded in 1908 in the United Kingdom. In 1927 Vimto introduced its cordial to the Middle East, which has become a key part of breaking fasts during the holy month.
Saudi Arabian multinational dairy company, Almarai was picked fourth by 3.5% of the respondents, and after it, comes three global brands—Nestle, Pepsi, Nike—all sitting at 3.2%.
Aside from several ad campaigns, Nike launched a special-edition sneaker named “dusk to dawn” in 2018, a nod to how Ramadan observers went about their day while fasting.
The shoe was created in collaboration with Lebanese artist, Ali Chaaban, who aimed to “create a new essence to running in the Arab world.”
Nike has also created several campaigns featuring Muslim athletes, including Zahra Lari, an Emirati figure skater who was the first woman to compete internationally while wearing a hijab.
China Blocks Use of Intel, AMD Chips in Government Computers
After the US took several steps to prevent Chinese companies from acquiring both the latest Nvidia AI chips as well as Europe’s semiconductor titan ASML from sending its advanced chipmaking machines to Beijing (which resulted in a one-time flood of Chinese orders into both ASML and NVDA ahead of the sales ban which the market assumed was a recurring thing and priced out Nvidia revenue growth ridiculous higher compared to where it will end up being), China has retaliated by introducing new guidelines that will mean US chips from Intel and AMD are phased out of government PCs and servers, as Beijing ramps up a campaign to replace foreign technology with homegrown solutions, the FT reported.
This escalation in the chip war between the two superpowers in the form of stricter government procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, and runs alongside a parallel localization drive under way in state-owned enterprises.
According to the FT, the latest purchasing rules “represent China’s most significant step yet to build up domestic substitutes for foreign technology and echo moves in the US as tensions increase between the two countries.” In the past year, Washington has imposed sanctions on a growing number of Chinese companies on national security grounds, legislated to encourage more tech to be produced in the US and blocked exports of advanced chips and related tools to China.
Chinese officials have begun following the new PC, laptop and server guidelines this year, after they were unveiled with little fanfare by the finance ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on December 26. They order government agencies and party organs above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases.
On the same day in December, the state testing agency, China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center, published its first list of “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems, all from Chinese companies.
Among the 18 approved processors were chips from Huawei and state-backed group Phytium. Both are on Washington’s export blacklist. Chinese processor makers are using a mixture of chip architectures including Intel’s x86, Arm and homegrown ones, while operating systems are derived from open-source Linux software.
The standards “are the first nationwide, detailed and clear instructions for the promotion of xinchuang”, said a local government official managing IT system substitution.
Beijing’s procurement revamp is part of a national strategy for technological independence in the military, government and state sectors that has become known as xinchuang or “IT application innovation”. State-owned enterprises were similarly told by their overseer, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, to complete a technology transition to domestic providers by 2027, according to two people briefed on the matter. Since last year, state groups have begun quarterly reporting on their progress in revamping their IT systems, though some foreign technology would be allowed to remain, the people said.
The creeping ban on US-made hardware and software means that US companies in China will be dented, starting with the world’s dominant PC processor makers, Intel and AMD. China was Intel’s largest market last year, providing 27% of its $54bn in sales and 15% of AMD’s $23bn in sales. Microsoft does not break out China sales but president Brad Smith last year told the US Congress that the country provided 1.5% of revenues.
It may be difficult for Intel or AMD ever to make the list of approved processors. To be evaluated, companies must submit their products’ complete R&D documentation and code. The top criteria for evaluation is the level of design, development and production completed within China, according to a notice from the state testing agency.
Then again, like most regulations in China, this one too is meant to be broken. As the FT reveals after speaking with two provincal-level procurement officials, some leeway remained to buy computers with foreign processors and Microsoft Windows. But the transition is certainly in place: Lao Zhangcheng, in charge of purchasing 16 fully Chinese computers for an organization under the Shaoxing city transport bureau, said his colleagues had no choice but to get used to domestic operating systems.
“We are replacing old computers that have foreign chips,” Lao said. “After this purchase, basically everyone in the office will have a domestic computer. The old computers we have left with Windows systems can still be used under certain situations.”
Lin Qingyuan, a chip expert at research group Bernstein, said substitution would progress faster for server processors than for PCs because of the more limited software ecosystem in need of replacement. He expected xinchuang servers to account for 23 per cent of total China server shipments in 2026.
“The purchasing guidance has made the xinchuang policy more actionable for officials,” he added.
Analysts at Zheshang Securities estimate China will need to invest Rmb660bn ($91bn) from 2023 to 2027 to replace the IT infrastructure in government, party organs and eight major industries.
Ukraine Likely Had Prior Knowledge of Moscow Terrorist Threat
A group of gunmen opened fire at a concert venue in Moscow on the evening of March 22, killing over 100 people and setting fire to the building.
Eleven suspects have been detained by Russian security services in relation to the terrorist attack, including the four suspected perpetrators who were apprehended as they were trying to flee the country across the border with Ukraine.
During an interview with Sputnik, political and military analyst Sergey Poletaev pointed out that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officially announced that the suspected terrorists had contacts in Ukraine.
According to Poletaev, even if the reports about the perpetrators being Tajikistani citizens are true, the attack in Moscow could have been masterminded either by some kind of Islamist terrorist organization that has ties with Ukraine, or even by Ukraine directly.
In any case, he noted, it appears that the Ukrainian leadership had prior knowledge of this act of terror, “which makes them accomplices, at the very least.”
Poletaev also argued that while the attack was likely planned by professionals, it does not necessarily mean that the perpetrators were equally skilled, with the analyst observing how high school students sometimes kill dozens of people during shooting sprees.
Commenting on the attempts by both Washington and Kiev to hastily deny Ukraine’s trace in this terrorist attack, Poletaev suggested that the West is going to insist that ISIS* alone was responsible.
Thus, he postulated, there will be two narratives – the Russian and the Western – and it all comes down to whose side the “global majority” is going to take.
“It is in our best interests to collate a convincing body of evidence for our case. It would greatly help us with diplomacy,” Poletaev remarked. “We’re talking about the ‘third countries,’ of course, as the West will most likely dismiss any talk of Ukraine’s involvement.”
Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a political analyst and professor at Tehran University, also found it curious that, even when “no real details” about the attack were known, the United States started insisting that Ukraine was not involved.
“It is also very strange that the United States was able to give such a detailed travel advisory or warning about a terror attack naming concerts and giving specifics about an attack in Moscow and large gatherings and all that [previous to the attack],” he added. “So, they have all these specific details, but they were unable to give anything specific to the Russians. This all makes one think that something is very wrong.”
Referring to claims about ISIS being responsible for the attack, Marandi argued that this theory does not necessarily rule out “cooperation between Ukraine and ISIS or the potential role of the United States.”
“The very fact that the United States, from the start, said that Ukraine wasn’t involved and the very fact that they gave such a detailed warning to their citizens is raising serious questions. But ISIS and the Ukrainian regime both have very strong connections with the West,” he elaborated. “ISIS has cooperated with NATO countries, it has cooperated with Israel, and it has cooperated with other American allies in Syria for years. And Ukraine is also deeply dependent on NATO countries.”
Marandi also pointed out that ISIS “has always been focused on the enemies of the United States” whereas the terrorist organization’s attacks on NATO countries or the Middle Eastern powers aligned with the West have been “very rare.”
ISIS (also known as ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
Germany: 5 Pakistani Family Members Arrested After Setting Fire to Their Own House And Then Blaming ‘Nazis’
In December of last year, the story broke in Germany of a Pakistani family targeted in an arson attack by right-wing extremists on Christmas Day. It had the makings of a perfect story for use by the left, including “Nazis” targeting an innocent foreign family on Christmas day.
Police now say it was all a lie and that the arson attack was carried out by the foreign family against their own house for insurance money. Five family members have now been arrested, including the house owner and his brother-in-law. They are also accused of spraying racist graffiti in the house, including “foreigners out” twice.
After the house fire in Wächtersbach, which is located between the cities of Frankfurt and Fulda, politicians from the Greens and the left attended candlelight vigils denouncing racism, while outpourings “solidarity” against “Nazis” came in from all directions.
Police and fire department investigators initially suspected right-wing extremists were responsible for the arson attack. The Pakistani family was not home during the incident and told police they were visiting a friend, which meant none of them were injured in the attack.
The fire, which investigators now say was set by the family, raged for eight hours on Christmas day in 2023, with damage estimated at €350,000.
Prosecutors say that the family used the right-wing slogans to lead investigators away from the Pakistani family, according to German newspaper Bild.
The investigators focused their efforts on the 47-year-old homeowner, who police noticed had fresh burns on his arm despite claiming he was not home during the fire. Prosecutors believe the family set the fire to claim insurance money.
AfD reacts to the arson arrests
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Hesse, the German state where the arson attack took place, has since commented on the case in a statement:
“It was a slap in the face to many thousands of AfD voters. Just a few weeks ago, the citizens had placed their trust in us with a great election result (in Hesse). In some communities, we are even the strongest force, even ahead of the governing parties. For our political competitors, the house fire was obviously a welcome opportunity to inflict hatred and agitation on our party and our voters. Almost reflexively, the SPD, the Left and the Greens classified this crime as politically motivated.
“Waechtersbach’s mayor (a member of SPD), who is said to have known the affected Pakistani family to be well integrated, took the same line. At this point, we can also answer the question of what the AfD would do differently. In this case, we would raise the bar for successful integration a little higher. Anyone who attracts attention with criminal acts in their freely chosen host country at least raises doubts about successful integration. But we now trust that the German judiciary will make an appropriate assessment. And an apology from the protagonists of the vigil is now in order.”
Far worse arson attack last year
It would not be the first time foreigners in Germany have put lives at risk with an arson attack to claim insurance money. Just a month before this attack, in November 2023, a father and son stood trial for injuring 17 people when they intentionally burned down their poorly performing fashion business to claim insurance money.
Both men were sentenced to life in prison for the heinous attack in December 2023.
The regional court in Aachen heard how the son, 22-year-old Karsan K., poured 13 liters of gasoline into the fashion store in Eschweiler back in March this year and set it on fire, causing a mass explosion that left dozens injured and resulted in millions of euros in damage.
The two men required an interpreter during their trial.
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Pope Francis Declares ‘God Hates Antivaxxers’
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