You wait for a train at Warsaw’s Central Station and check the departure board. Everything looks normal at first. Destination, track number, platform. Then you notice the twist. The wait time is not shown in minutes. It is shown in hamburgers, cokes and fries.
The idea. Make waiting feel shorter by making it measurable
McDonalds in Poland finds a creative way to make waiting for the train less agonizing for passengers and more profitable for its trainside location. The board translates delay time into a simple, food-based unit people instantly understand.
How it works at the station
In cooperation with PKP (Polish State Railways), McDonalds installs a special timetable about 50 meters from the main hub of Warsaw’s Central Train Station. It displays departure time, destination, track number, and platform information as usual. The difference is the wait and delay time, which appears as burgers, cokes and fries.
Why this lands as a smart retail nudge
The mechanic does not interrupt. It reframes the moment. If you have “two burgers” worth of waiting, grabbing food becomes the obvious way to spend the time. It is utility first, brand second, and that is why it feels clever rather than pushy.
What the result signals
While making the train station a more enjoyable place for waiting passengers, McDonalds sees an increase of 4,500 customers in the first month itself.
A few fast answers before you act
What is the McDonalds Hamburger Timetable?
It is a train timetable that displays delay and waiting time as McDonalds menu items, like burgers, fries and Coke, instead of minutes.
Why does converting minutes into food items influence behaviour?
Because it makes the wait feel like “time you can spend” rather than “time you lose”. It also provides a natural suggestion for what to do next without using a hard call-to-action.
What is the core design lesson?
Translate a boring metric into a simple, brand-linked unit that is immediately understood, and place it exactly where the decision happens.
Where else can this pattern work?
Any waiting context with nearby commerce. Transit hubs, queues, ticketing areas, and event entry points all benefit when “time to kill” becomes “time to enjoy”.
