Dunkin' Donuts
Dunkin' Donuts is an international
doughnut purveyor founded in
1950 in
Quincy, Massachusetts by
William Rosenberg. It claims to be the "world's largest coffee and baked goods chain," with 2.7 million customers per day served at 6200 stores globally [
1]. Most of its stores are
franchises.
Dunkin' Donuts, along with
Togo's and
Baskin-Robbins, is owned by
Dunkin' Brands Inc. (previously
Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants, a part of
Allied Domecq). Dunkin' Brands was owned by French beverage company
Pernod Ricard S.A. after it purchased Allied Domecq, but they reached an agreement in December 2005 to sell the brand to a consortium of three private equity firms,
Bain Capital Partners, the
Carlyle Group and
Thomas H. Lee Partners, with the deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2006.
In the
U.S., Dunkin' Donuts is often paired with Togo's
sandwich shops (sometimes called
Dunkin' Deli) and Baskin-Robbins
ice cream shops. Most of their business competition comes from small locally owned stores,
Krispy Kreme doughnuts,
Starbucks, and
Southern Maid; in
Canada, parts of the
Great Lakes region, and as of 2003,
New England,
Tim Hortons is a major competitor.
Mister Donut had been its largest competitor in the United States before the company was bought by Dunkin' Donuts' parent company and the Mister Donut stores rebranded as Dunkin' Donuts.
In the province of
Quebec,
Canada, Dunkin' Donuts is operated completely by
Alimentation Couche-Tard.
In 1946,
William Rosenberg founded Industrial Luncheon Services as a company to deliver meals and "coffee break snacks" to customers in the outer reaches of
Boston, Massachusetts. His business saw success and Rosenberg soon followed by opening up his first coffee and donut shop called, "The Open Kettle." In 1950 he opened the first store known as "Dunkin' Donuts," which is still standing today at 543 Southern Artery in
Quincy, Massachusetts. Grant Benson is the current Vice President of Dunkin' Donuts Eastern Development and works out of their global headquarters in
Randolph, Massachusetts.
* Dunkin' Donuts' "It's Worth the Trip" campaign, starring sleepy-eyed "
Fred the Baker" and featuring the
catchphrase "Time to make the donuts," won honors from the
Television Bureau of Advertising as one of the five best
commercials of the 1980s. Fred the Baker was played by actor
Michael Vale for over 15 years until his retirement in 1997. Vale died of complications from
diabetes at age 83 on
December 24 2005, in
New York City.
* Dunkin' Donuts is a staple of
popular culture references, especially in its home turf of the
northeastern United States and eastern
Canada. Television and movie references include the
MacKenzie Brothers movie
Strange Brew,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze,
Veronica Mars,
Rock et Belles Oreilles and the
Chris Farley comedy
Tommy Boy.
* Frequently on TV sitcoms in the US, when a character has a box of donuts, it will feature a generic logo very similar to Dunkin Donuts' logo, because it is instantly recognized as a "box of donuts." The box will generally read "DONUTS DONUTS".
* In
1972, Dunkin' Donuts started to sell Munchkins, minature spherical-shaped "doughnut holes" individually bought in boxes of 25 or 50. Usually, in every Dunkin' Donuts shop, they would have the flavors Plain, Jelly-Filled, Chocolate Glazed, Cinnamon, Powdered, and Glazed Cake. Others would have another type, such as Sprinkled, Apple, or Bavarian Kreme. In
2001, the franchise sold over 700 million Munchkins. Munchkins are likely named after the
dwarf-sized characters that appeared in the classic 1939 film
The Wizard of Oz.
* Dunkin' Donuts also has a close relationship with two Boston-area professional sports teams: the
Boston Red Sox and the
New England Patriots. Dunkin' Donuts makes new commercials at the start of each team's season for promotions.
* One of the more memorable Dunkin' Donuts commercials in 2005 had former Red Sox
center fielder Johnny Damon actually using a wig for his infamous "caveman look," with the club's
general manager,
Theo Epstein walking in, seeing Damon, and trying (ultimately failing) to restrain his laughter, since he has seen Damon bald and using a wig for his caveman look. Damon replies by saying, "Promise me you will NOT tell anyone." Epstein gets Damon's iced coffee as compensation.
* The commercial made for the Patriots at the start of the 2005-2006 NFL season featured
wide receiver and
cornerback Troy Brown. The commercial portrayed Brown as being able to do just about anything, including making a new
Super Bowl XXXIX ring for team owner
Robert Kraft, parodying the incident between Kraft and Russian President
Vladimir Putin in which Putin somehow got Kraft's
Super Bowl ring during Kraft's visit to
Russia. Kraft let Putin keep it.
*
The Dunkin' Donuts Center in
Providence, Rhode Island is the former Providence Civic Center. It is the home arena for the
American Hockey League Providence Bruins and the home
basketball court for the
Big East Providence College Friars. The arena is sometimes referred to as 'The Dunk.'
*In
2005 Saturday Night Live had Amy Poheler say during the
Weekend Update skit, that she had always dreamed of opening up her own kind of restaurant called 'Dunkin Dognuts' which was followed by a copy of the 'Dunkin Donuts' logo edited to match her phrase.
* Since Dunkin' Donuts changed their slogan in
2006 to "America Runs on Dunkin'",
They Might Be Giants have made an ongoing series of advertisements of Dunkin' Donuts new products to boost summer sales.
In 1996, Dunkin' Donuts gained a level of infamy on Lower
Cape Cod when it became the first chain restaurant to operate on the Lower Cape (in
Eastham) since the
Provincetown Dairy Queen closed down in 1983. The infamy came from the fact that there was overwhelming local opposition to the opening. Since then,
Subway has opened stores in Eastham and Provincetown, and
Uno Chicago Grill had also opened (but has since closed down) in Provincetown.
*
Dunkin Donuts Corporate Page*
Dunkin Donuts Blog*
Dunkin Donuts Stores* [https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/company/History.aspx Official Dunkin' Donuts Company History Page]. Retrieved Dec 21, 2005
*"Dunkin' Donuts fetches $2.4B".
CNN Money. Retrieved Dec. 14, 2005.
