Dunkin’: Super Bowl ads with A-List star power pay off

With a heavy price tag for only 30 to 60 seconds of air time, advertising during the Super Bowl is an investment that needs to pay off for brands. But, what better way for Dunkin’ – one of the largest coffee and donut shop chains in the world – to get in front of millions of coffee-drinkers than during advertisers’ biggest stage?

After Ben Affleck – a longtime Dunkin’ fan – appeared in the brand’s first ever Super Bowl commercial last year, sales exploded. “We ran it once and got 7 billion media impressions, and it kind of kickstarted the year,” Scott Murphy, the president of Dunkin’, recently told Entrepreneur about Affleck’s 2023 Super Bowl ad.

As a sequel, Dunkin’ returned to this year’s Super Bowl with a commercial featuring Ben Affleck, his wife Jennifer Lopez, and cameos from Matt Damon, Tom Brady, Jack Harlow, and Fat Joe. The “DunKings” 60-second ad featured Affleck trying to break into the music industry. 

The spot plugged a new DunKings menu available nationwide for a limited time and features Affleck’s go-to order.

Looking at data from QuestBrand by The Harris Poll, we can see that running successful campaigns in back-to-back Super Bowls significantly paid off for Dunkin’. As a result of the commercials featuring Affleck and his star-studded entourage, there has been a lift among adults familiar with the coffee and donut shop chain who describe Dunkin’ as “fun.”

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Dunkin’ “Fun” – US Adults – 12 Week Moving Average

QuestBrand. 1/1/22-2/21/24. Base: US adults ages 18+ who are familiar with the Dunkin’ brand, n=20,477.

One of the audiences reacting the most to the ad campaigns are young consumers. According to QuestBrand data, Dunkin’ gained momentum among Gen Z consumers each time they aired a Super Bowl commercial, even reaching their highest momentum level yet after this year’s big game.

Momentum is a component of brand equity, and it reflects a brand’s market position and its ability to beat out competitors. 

Dunkin’ Net Momentum – US Adults vs Gen Z Adults – 12 Week Moving Average

QuestBrand. 1/1/22-2/21/24. Base: US adults ages 18+ who are familiar with the Dunkin’ brand, n=20,477. Base: Gen Z adults who are familiar with the Dunkin’ brand, n=2,953.

In addition to gaining momentum among Gen Z, Dunkin’ (+6.7) ranked 8th among advertisers with the greatest increases in momentum in this year’s Brand Bowl Report.

With a thriving coffee market and ample consumer demand, it will continue to be essential for long-standing brands like Dunkin’ to stand out amongst fierce competition.