- Dunkin’ roasted Starbucks in its Super Bowl advertisement.
- The ad, starring Ben and Casey Affleck, took shots at Starbucks’ long wait times and over-customization.
- The ad ended with the bold slogan, “America runs on Dunkin’.”
Dunkin’ used the biggest ad space of the year to take shots at Starbucks.
The Super Bowl advertisement, which featured actor-siblings duo Ben and Casey Affleck and NFL coach Bill Belichick decked out in Dunkin’ merch, depicted a competition among coffee brands.
The Affleck brothers and Belichick took turns roasting a group of baristas dressed in green jackets, which resembled Starbucks’ signature green aprons and uniforms.
Although the trio did not explicitly mention Starbucks, they targeted some of the chain’s widely publicized problems, such as long wait times and over-customization.
When one of the green-clad baristas said, “Dunkin’! About to get roasted! Like a dark seasonal roast with coriander and slight balsamic drizzle,” Belichick replied, “Sounds like what’s in my garbage disposal.”
Ben Affleck took a jab at Starbucks, asking, “How much to wait a half hour to get my name spelled wrong in the cup?”
His brother Casey followed up with “Nobody wants a goat milk double half-caf soy milk cap. You could just brew it — it’s beans and water.”
In the extended six-minute-long video, they also targeted fast-food brands like McDonald’s — coffee and breakfast are an increasingly important part of its menu.
The ad comes as Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol, has been working to simplify the chain’s offerings and eliminate long wait times by streamlining its mobile ordering system.
On the January 28 earnings call, Niccol and Starbucks’ finance chief said the chain would also cut 30% of the menu items to streamline service.
Niccol, who said that mobile orderings had “chipped away” at the company’s “soul,” is trying to make Starbucks a cozy coffeehouse where customers can hang out. Dunkin’, meanwhile, has long been known as a cheaper to-go coffee shop with little comfortable seating.
To reduce long wait times, Starbucks’ CEO introduced a new algorithm for mobile orders in the earnings call in an effort to make mobile ordering a lot smoother.
A Starbucks representative confirmed to BI on Wednesday that it would lower the cap on the number of drinks customers can buy in one mobile order from 15 to 12 and remove some customization options for its mobile orders.
Representatives for Dunkin and Starbucks did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, sent outside regular business hours.
