Dunkin Donuts rebranding unsettles New Englanders

Bridget Coakley
staff writer

With the decline of doughnut eaters comes the end of an iconic name known to many New Englanders. Soon enough, dads across New England won’t be saying “let’s go to Dunkin’ Donuts” before their kid’s games, they’ll be saying, “let’s go to Dunkin.” Yes, Dunkin’ Donuts has decided to rebrand the company by chopping off the “Donuts” in the name.
Various coffee and iced tea flavors have become more of the company’s staple. With the introduction of cold brew on the menu, customer’s desire for beverages over donuts from has become consistent throughout the past few years. However, if you’re a customer that still comes in looking for a glazed or Boston cream doughnut, the morning sugar rush is still available for order.
The chief marketing officer at Dunkin’, Tony Weisman, reassured many Americans with his statement to USA Today that “While donuts may no longer appear in our logo, we remain committed to serving our signature donuts and will continue to offer new and seasonal varieties to delight donut lovers everywhere.”
Regarding the name, has anyone actually ever seen someone dunk his or her doughnut in coffee? I can’t imagine it tasting all that pleasing. I’m sure some taste good in a coffee, but I can’t imagine plunging a chocolate frosted donut into my caramel swirl iced coffee. That’s just absurd.
So, my question is, why leave it at Dunkin’? I’m not much of a doughnut lover myself, so I could care less about the “Donuts” part getting the boot except maybe for the fact that I have become accustomed to it.
However, Dunkin’? What are you Dunkin’? I can just picture the sign now, looking incomplete. I could never think of it as just Dunkin’. I will continually think that every Dunkin’ Donuts that I enter needs to fix their sign. Leaving the title unfinished like that makes me extremely unsettled, at least change it to “Dunks.”
The name “Dunks” is already used by so many people when talking about Dunkin’ Donuts, so why not make it permanent? For those of you who are devastated by the name change, my deepest condolences.

Bridget Coakley, a junior, studies sociology. She is a staff writer for Le Provocateur.