Dunkin’ Donuts has launched a new autumn drink in collaboration with rapper and Gen Z fan favourite, Ice Spice. Entitled Ice Spice Munchkins, the drink is named after the rapper’s fan base—Munchkins, which also is the name of Dunkin’s donut holes. The drink is a base of frozen coffee blended with pieces of pumpkin Munchkins and topped with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle.
The drink was concocted based on several customer insights. Chief Marketing Officer Jill McVicar Nelson said that younger Dunkin’ customers prefer the chain’s iced and frozen coffees and that music is a passion area for them, not to mention the larger fandom around pumpkin flavoring as a signal of fall. The drink is available for a limited time starting today, September 13th.
The ad for the drink also features Ben Affleck (who has previously collaborated with the food chain) and debuted last night during the 2023 “MTV Video Music Awards,” where Ice Spice was nominated for Best New Artist. Affleck wrote and directed the spot as part of his role with Artists Equity, a production company he founded in 2022 with Matt Damon.
The ad opens with Affleck saying that he was promoted to Dunkin’s brand ambassador, and cuts to him sitting across the table from Ice Spice, brainstorming ideas. He complains that it’s hard to come up with a new drink name, and asks how they can authentically connect Dunkin’ and Ice Spice. Ice Spice then explains that she is a “Dunkin’ girl” and that her fanbase is called the Munchkins, hence the Ice Spice Munchkins drink.
Artists Equity was Dunkin’s agency, production, and post-production company for the Ice Spice commercial, which was conceived and directed by Affleck, even though Leo Burnett is Dunkin’s agency of record. (It took over from Anomaly earlier this year.)
Affleck and Damon founded Artists Equity after seeing how streaming services value quantity over quality when it came to content, which was disheartening for those behind the camera, often resulting in a lot of legwork for shows that didn’t get off the ground, or didn’t break through the sea of content viewers can choose from. Artists Equity incentivizes actors and those behind the camera by giving them a cut of the profit, allowing them to put their efforts into a project that has a higher chance of being successful.
This isn’t the first time that Dunkin’ has sought to connect with younger fans. In 2020, the brand partnered with viral TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, naming a drink after her and collaborating on a merch line. There was also the “Wake Up and Make Up” makeup collaboration with e.l.f Cosmetics that tapped makeup influencer Mikayla Nogueira.
The ad will run for several months, and the campaign for the drink will run on social media, digital, and out-of-home ads, including an activation at the Dunkin’ location Ice Spice grew up visiting in the Bronx.
