Dunkin' Officially Drops The 'Donuts'

Though the company will drop "donuts" from its name, they won't drop them from the business model.

Maggie Penman is a reporter for WGBH News. Prior to joining WGBH, she worked on NPR’s flagship show Morning Edition, reported on breaking news for the network, and helped launch the popular social science show Hidden Brain. Her reporting has taken her from the North Dakota Prairie to Berlin, Germany, to a tiny town in Japan called Obama. In 2017, she reported on the German elections as an Arthur F. Burns Fellow through the International Center for Journalists.

September 25, 2018

What's in a name? Will Dunkin's Donuts — without the "Donuts" — still taste as sweet?

In a press release Tuesday, the company announced that it will officially drop the "Donuts" from its name. The company said its fans already affectionately refer to the brand as "Dunkin'," and that this move marks one of "many steps" to transform into a "premier beverage-led, on-the-go brand." The change will go into effect in all stores in January 2019, after a trial-run in select stores.

One irony of the move is that Dunkin' popularized the shorter spelling of "donut." It became so ubiquitous that Merriam-Webster added it to the Dictionary as an acceptable alternative to "doughnut."

While "donuts" will no longer be a part of the brand, the company says the sweet treats are still very much part of the business model. Dunkin' boasts that it is the No. 1 retailer of donuts in America, selling billions of donuts and "munchkins" every year worldwide.

"Someone asked me, 'What do they have against donuts?'" says Colin Booth, the Executive Creative Director at AMP, a marketing agency in Boston. "But it's not anti-donuts, it's pro-coffee."

Booth says the majority of their sales are beverages, so it makes sense for the company to focus on that.

"Their menu keeps expanding, and coffee and beverages are becoming more and more of their focus," Booth says. "It's still being who they are, and who they're for, it's just focusing on what their offerings are, and why people are going to them day after day."

Booth concedes that donuts are having a bit of a moment. But he thinks it's smart that Dunkin' isn't chasing the fad, which is more focused on smaller craft donut businesses, like Union Square Donuts or Blackbird.

"Rather than latching onto a moment, which could be fleeting — it's bacon one day, sriracha the next day — I think they're looking to the long-term future," Booth says. "For them, it's about coffee."

At a local Dunkin' Donuts in Brighton, the customers weren't as convinced.

"I'll have to get used to it," said Matthew Robinson, a regular. "It's just weird, after all this time."

Another customer, Deejay Bishop, was even more forthright:

"That's cheap!" he said of the new brand.

But unfortunately for Dunkin', it probably won't be cheap at all. According to Forbes, rebrands can be "costly and overwhelming." With more than 12,000 locations in 46 countries, the makeover will be no small task.