Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the most popular coffee chains in the U.S., and they may be debuting a new name — sort of.
To be fair, it’s not so much a new name as a shortened name. As CBS Los Angeles reports, Dunkin’ Donuts is opening a new store in Pasadena that will bare the simple signage of just “Dunkin’.”
Per a spokesperson from Dunkin’ Donuts’ parent company, Prell Restaurant Group, the name is unique to the Pasadena location, however, the new name reflects the chain’s efforts to develop a more “beverage-led” brand, focusing on the coffee and frozen drinks. Which is to say, we shouldn’t be surprised if more DD locations lose one of the iconic Ds.
To be fair, Dunkin’ Brands is named just that — Dunkin’ Brands and not Dunkin’ Donuts Brand — and the slogan has always been “American Runs on Dunkin’.” Most importantly, donuts will still be sold at the new Dunkin’ locations. (Which is good, because we still need that s’mores donut in our lives.) The brand appears to be getting their interests in order — the drink focus, at least as far as new flavor debuts, has been obvious for some time — and it’s hard to imagine anyone being too shook by the announcement.
Really, it just seems like an update to reflect the name most customers use to refer to the establishment anyways and provide a little brevity to boot. Plus, one-word brand names are extremely trendy. Dunkin’, is in fact, a very 2017 name for a coffee and beverage brand, being that it is somewhat vague, only tangentially related to its subject matter and, crucially, one word. If you think too hard about it, it doesn’t make sense for a drink stop and therefore it is a perfect name.
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But if we may offer a suggestion: Drop the apostrophe too.