All right, all you fellow East Coast transplants in Seattle.
Hear me out on this one: Dunkin Donuts is just plain untasty.
Yes! I was one of you!
I used to make my regular run to Dunkin’ Donuts in Brooklyn, NYC, and did not even know that what I was consuming was the stuff of chemical awfulness that probably affected my mood more than I cared to admit!
Yesterday I mentioned I’d be writing this post about Dunkin’ Donuts from “rain-and-coffee-soaked Seattle,” and today the monsoons set in.
There is just nothing nicer than a warm drink when it’s raining outside. In Ireland, this drink was Bewley’s tea. Or better, a hot toddy.
In fairness, I think Seattle has made me a coffee snob.
Or maybe Italy did. I admit it!
I still like illy coffee, but I’m much more a fan of what they serve in assorted cafes around Capitol Hill. Places like Vivaces, Joe Bar, Bauhaus before it gets too late in the evening, Stumptown when they’re nice, Victrolas—either one— when it’s quiet.
How I Got to Dunkin’ Donuts
So you’re asking howcome I have this Dunkin’ Donuts waxy paper bag to scan in, aren’t you? Akira asked me the same thing on the plane back from Boston in mid March.
We went to get inspired by the MIT and Cambridge campuses teeming with solar panel-empowered trash compactors on the sidewalks and go to the authetic-feeling shape and mood of Irish pubs. And see peacoats. People wearing peacoats was kind of fun to observe.
“You’re keeping that thing?” Akira asked, referring to the Dunkin’ bag.
“Absolutely.”
At the risk of attracting an army of ants to my lovely scanning machine here at Design Kompany world headquarters, I am sharing this glorious image with the fine readers of Desknotes here.
Yes, I kept it.
Mostly, to consider upon some reflection.
I wanted to remember the recent shock of trying something I used to think was so incredibly satisfying, but in fact tasted like cardboard.
Those donuts sit around all day! And the waxy bag?—totally overpackaged.
Packaging gripes
I can’t get over how much paper and wax people throw away every day in the cities around the world! This is a pet peeve of mine, and those of you who know me can vouch for the fact that I always order coffee “for here.” Am a staunch boycotter of purchasing bottled water, too. Even on the airplane. Even when I’m really, really thirsty.
What I do is go for the canned juice, ask for the whole can, then bring the empty vessel to whichever airport recycles stuff. Not just airports. I did this actually on the train from Milan to Copenhagen (changing in Basel), but I was disappointed that even when they had recycling separator type things, people just carelessly tossed garbage in to wherever. Didn’t they know I’d traveled 719 miles seeking recycling receptacles?
The whole “when in doubt, throw it out” phrase of advice from a Seattle environmentalist I know echoed through my tired brain. They would dump it, even if I “recycled.”
There I was, thinking: “Darnit.”
Darnit people.
Can we not read the labels? Can we not separate “glass” from “plastic” from “aluminum?”
Is this not 2008, the pinnacle of mankind’s advances in the frontiers of technological innovation? So, like, what is everyone’s deal?!?
Psychographics
Despite all my complaining (about bad donuts, not recycling), I do have to hand it to the marketing people at Dunkin’ Donuts. They built a hugely loyal following of customers.
Those people stand in long lines to get bad donuts and worse coffee. They really, really do.
But it’s the promise of something familiar, something comforting, that they crave. That’s cool.
We all have our guilty pleasures, I guess. So, um, what’s yours? —DK
Also see:
Rachel Ray’s scarf, or Dunkin’ Donuts coffee?
Know Your Audience’s Pyschographics
Short films by DK
Design Kompany’s bookmarks on Del.icio.us
I hear you on the Dunkin Donuts being not so good when you go back. Living in Boston almost my whole life, it just becomes this permanent part of the landscape, with a Dunks at every corner it seems. I always knew the coffee was bad, but man, was it convenient. My solution eventually became: always brew my own coffee at home. And cut down on caffeine
Thanks for the note, Chris.
I wonder what in Seattle is bad that we’re just blind to because it’s, like you say, a ‘permanent part of the landscape?’ Hm…
I think anytime you are buying coffee from a huge superstore chain, you are going to find these types of variations. Unless you are buying locally grown coffee (ours is grown in Hawaii, the only place in the US that grows commercial coffee) you will find inferior quality.