This was an interesting perspective on a new marketing campaign Dunkin' Donuts is using. I look at it and find it almost offensive and demeaning to my intelligence. This Dunkin' Donuts lover went a few steps further...
Dunkin Donuts has gone stupidly new age on us, in an attempt to push their expanded line of Nine Flavors of Coffee. I suppose they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re trying to compete with Starbucks, but this is just wrong. My reading is that their new marketing strategy specifically targets young women.
For example: If you love Toasted Almond....You love to flirt and change your mind often. Your carefree nature pushes you to constantly experience new things. Your motto: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìLife is meant to be lived.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Question is...who?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s coming along for the ride?
Or how about...If you love Chocolate....You enjoy the rich things in life and use your sweet charm to achieve them. Your character is the deepest of all the Flavorology flavors. Your good looks are second only to your smooth personality. You melt hearts with a single glance...and that can lead to messy situations.
I realize this is supposed to be taken as ?¢‚ǨÀúall in fun?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢, but it caters to just about every vacuous feminine stereotype out there. Just turn on that million dollar smile, baby, and the world is your oyster. Be pretty, flirt, it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s your prerogative to change your mind often...it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s all good. Go out, melt hearts with your sweet charm, and get ahead in the world. Yecch! I am so disappointed in DD.
i’m pretty sure that this is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. i’m a woman and i’m not offended by it at all. it’s like the new burger king salad pouches that say :
-When we first told folks we mixed
cold greens and delicious hot chicken
in BK salads, they were all, “Oh no
you didn’t.” But we were all, “Oh yes
we did.” And we held up the Pouch
like, “Badda bam!” It’s pretty obvious
we made our point.-
that’s pretty freakin’ funny. and i find the new DD is supposed to be fun and funny as well. looks like people need a sense of humor.
Come now, this is all in good fun .. I thought it was kind of cute and I liked the little illustration. It’s just a cute little thing to decorate the cups. Perhaps you could write and ask for more “male” oriented flavorology tips. If you’re a feminist surely there are more important things to get upset about. They are only written in the style of a dumb mood ring description it’s like satire really.
Personally, I don’t mind the tone of the campaign at all. And I like the idea of offering more choices.
What I do mind, though, is that DD has stopped using flavored coffee beans and are now using the flavored shots approach. The flavored coffee doesn’t taste the same and leaves a funny after taste. I am a long-time fan of DD and this is a big disappointment for me. I’m all in favor of providing the consumer more choices, but not at the cost of DD’s reputation for quality and consistency.
Furthermore, I have always really appreciated how efficient the operation is. I can often get in and out with my order in less time than it takes someone @ SB to repeat the order. This has all changed. Now, in addition to the long lines of consumers, I see the servers leaving their stations and standing in line at the shot machines. Why I am waiting in line to watch the servers wait in line is quite silly.
So, in my book, quality has dropped and speediness of delivery has dropped. So, I am officially boycotting until DD comes to their senses. Who knows, perhaps I’ll become accustomed to some other brand…
I agree with Pepe. DD has completely disappointed me with their fake flavors. The best thing about DD was that they weren’t conforming to the trendy coffee scene, they were for the die-hards, and now? I might as well give my money to that other annoying coffeehouse. What will they do next? Cyber-stations? Come on DD, give us back our basic coffee, without the B.S.
BTW:The fake flavors do leave a bad aftertaste. Shame on you DD.
Before I posted to this blog last month, I contacted DD and gave them pretty much the same feedback as what is in my post. I just received what can only be an auto-generated email which is, in essence, an ad for the new flavorology campaign. Which part of ‘You are not listening’ don’t they understand? This morning my company brought in coffee, donuts, and bagels as part of a small celebration. Naturally, they brought in DD. I still felt compelled to stick to my boycott and shelled out for a competitor’s product. During the event, I ranted a little bit about my dissatisfaction and found that others were very much of the same opinion about the aftertaste.
Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees are required to “throw” out any coffee that has been sitting on the burner for more than 19 minutes. How often that happens is anyone’s guess, but not doing it will give them a poor grade if someone from DD corporate evaluates the shop. With that said, flavored coffee shots are a Frankenstein-ian response to a majority of powerful franchisees who refused to pay for real flavored beans, only to sell a few cups of coffee from a particular pot, and then have to dump it down the drain. This flavored-bean method was tried before and it failed miserably. Some of you may remember. Some time later, the good folks at Dunkin’s product development lab (yes, they have one) utilized the technology from “Coolatta” shots and created flavored coffee shots. Now franchisees could brew regular coffee, squirt some chemical concoction into the cup, and not have to worry about “dumping” coffee down the drain. This was the “big” compromise. To think that DD corporate has as much control over what they can make franchisees do or not do is a fallacy. This is DD’s greatest weakness. While they can close down a shop for egregious, repeatable problems, they rarely do so unless the store in question is “caught on tape” or not making money. And if you think your emails and letters are getting forwarded to the correct people for action, well, I won’t burst any bubbles here. Sometimes writing a letter simply makes one feel better, even if it doesn’t do any good. The only letters taken seriously are ones that involve a crime, shop employees (harassment), or an upcoming/recent newscast.
I couldn’t agree more! DD hazelnut coffee was my FAVORITE thing in the world. Now it tastes like complete ass, especially when you get it from an incompetent barrista. The shot machines are not even always calibrated properly. Just disgusting. I can still get brewed hazelnut coffee at City Convenience or Store 24; no reason to ever go to dunkin donuts again. Idiots.
O MY GOSH…. what is the deal? it’s marketing strategy advertising….if anybody is insulted or disturbed by it, THEY need to seek help. with all the problems in this lifetime, getting bothered by an advertisement is just plain idiotic. Put your energy into something worthwhile, like helping the homeless, and hungry, and abused. GET A REAL LIFE!!!!!
I must disagree with E.B. Sweeney. When a customer makes a service complaint about a shop, that shop’s owner gets an e-mail with a copy of your complaint and contact info. Of course, they get tons of cranks from whackos and scammers, but legit complaints about poor service are always followed up on by good owners.
Be detailed, note the time of your visit–they have ecurity vidoe on hard drives and can check it out to back up your version of events.