After 68 years, Dunkin’ Donuts is changing its name. Starting in January, 2019, America’s most popular donut company is going to be plain old Dunkin’.
The new branding follows on the heels of countless other recent name changes for major companies. Just two days earlier, Weight Watchers renamed itself “WW”, and over the summer, “IHOP” temporarily changed its name to “IHOB”, or “International House of Burgers”.
Dunkin’ says that their name change is meant to reflect a growing focus on beverages. 60% of the company’s sales comes from beverages like coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. In a press release, they said that the name change was meant to “transform the company into the premier beverage-led, on-the-go brand.”
The donuts won’t be going away, but the name change is going to come with a few changes to the menu. One of the big changes coming up, Dunkin’ says, is a new menu item they call “Donut Fries”.
Not everybody’s thrilled, though, with the new name change. KSL Newsradio’s Dave & Dujanovic weighed in on the air, and Debbie Dujanovic says she’s sick of millennial marketing campaigns ruining everything from her childhood.
But Dave says that dropping “Donuts” from the name isn’t going far enough. As far as he’s concerned, they need to drop the donuts. “Dunkin’ Donuts have the worst donuts in the world,” Dave says. “Why would you highlight the fact that your donuts are on the menu when you make terrible donuts?”
If you missed Dave & Dujanovic on KSL Newsradio at 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, you can still hear everything they said – and our listener’s votes for Utah’s best donut place – by listening to the Dave & Dujanovic podcast:
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on KSL Newsradio. Users can find the show on the KSL Newsradio website and app, as well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.