I'll have a Dunkaccino, per favore

Is anybody else bothered by the absurdity in Dunkin Donuts nationally propogated claim that their "lattes" can be ordered in English not Italian?

I know that if you order a "latte" in Italy, you'll probably get a glass of milk, and that the target of their ad is the equally distorted view of language by their competitors. But there's a certain amount of pandering and contempt implied here (not necessarily traits antithetical to effective advertising, but pretty blatant in this case) that sticks in my craw. not to mention the irony of the fact that they wouldn't even be offering lattes if not for the success of their competitors' products.

Other "English" items that have been on the DD menu, incidentally: cappuccini, panini, croissants, coolattas, and, yes, Dunkaccinos.

I believe the alleged language that DD avoids is "Fritalian."

Though I flirt with the Italian language myself, I have always found it kind of aggravating that Starbuck's uses "venti" as a designator, which unlike panini is probably not a term that most English speakers would understand.

All that said, when The Wife and I saw this commerical the other day, I said "I like coffee at Dunkin' Donuts," and The Wife said, "Me, too," so I guess the commerical worked...at least for us.

You do, however, put your finger on a manifest absurdity of their concept: avoiding "foreign languages" is almost impossible when ordering any food anywhere (tacos, sushi, matjes herring, etc.).

David "Just a Pawn of the Media" Hammond

Lord how I hate that ad. Not only for the absudity of John Goodman stating that you can order a "latte" in English at dd, not "Fritalian", but also for the terrible Talking-Heads-like new wave jingle. In fact, I hate all the new DD jingles. They do indeed stick in my brain, but they only serve to remind me that I would not drink a Coolata even if it was free and I was dying of thirst. Besides, what language is "Dunkaccino", anyhow? Dunkatalian? The funny thing is, I used to be a DD regular before they started with the annoying commercials. I once had a big stack of coupons for free coffee from going to cubs games. Even after the coupons expired, I kept going to DD because, like the Hammonds, I enjoyed the coffee, and it wasn't Star*ucks. At least in my case, the Cubs promotion worked, but the new wave ad campaign backfired.

d4v3 wrote:Lord how I hate that ad. Not only for the absudity of John Goodman stating that you can order a "latte" in English at dd, not "Fritalian", but also for the terrible Talking-Heads-like new wave jingle. In fact, I hate all the new DD jingles.

Where is the love for They Might Be Giants?!?

*snif*

Man, I love 'em. That said, I'm a sucker for any advertisement involving group songs, like the Starbucks and Burger King ads. Considering I haven't entered any of these three retailers' locations in the past 3 years, it doesn't seem to be a very effective campaign, though.

Anyone know what's behind the whole glut of commercials involving 50+ people singing together? I'm not complaining, but is the same agency behind them? Copycatting? What?

Dmnkly wrote:Where is the love for They Might Be Giants?!?

Ah yes, that's it. I was trying to put my finger on the sound. Duh.

Actually, each of the jingles are in the style of some particular band. The fact is, I do appreciate the creativity of the ads, and they do get my attention. It is just that after I hear one of those jingles, I can't get it out of my head, and not in a good way. The "fritalian" one is the worst. Some may consider that effective advertising, but for me it always backfires. Unlike gleam, I guess I just don't like those big musical production numbers, or maybe I am just too arrogant to admit that advertising actually works on me.

d4v3 wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:Where is the love for They Might Be Giants?!?

Ah yes, that's it. I was trying to put my finger on the sound. Duh.

Sounds more like a bad Weezer knockoff to me, complete w/ the counter "Perhaps Fratalian" dude in dorky thick-rimmed glasses.

Dmnkly wrote:

d4v3 wrote:Lord how I hate that ad. Not only for the absudity of John Goodman stating that you can order a "latte" in English at dd, not "Fritalian", but also for the terrible Talking-Heads-like new wave jingle. In fact, I hate all the new DD jingles.

Where is the love for They Might Be Giants?!?

*snif*

Exactly! I like the jingles, if not the coffee or donuts.

Those of us who have kids don't need a commercial to have They Might Be Giants in our heads, all day long.

Every time I look at my screen name here, I start hearing "Go go go/Go for G!"

Anyway, here's something I wrote long long ago about Starbucks' weird naming conventions.

gleam wrote:Anyone know what's behind the whole glut of commercials involving 50+ people singing together? I'm not complaining, but is the same agency behind them? Copycatting? What?

Not sure, but Hill Holliday is the ad agency behind the new Dunkin Donut campaign.

tem wrote:

d4v3 wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:Where is the love for They Might Be Giants?!?

Ah yes, that's it. I was trying to put my finger on the sound. Duh.

Sounds more like a bad Weezer knockoff to me, complete w/ the counter "Perhaps Fratalian" dude in dorky thick-rimmed glasses.

I'll spare you the documented web search, but I assure you, it is undoubtedly John and John

The commercial in question @YouTube

My favorite bit that I'd not noticed before: "Himan Plu Cento" on the menu.

Dmnkly wrote:I'll spare you the documented web search, but I assure you, it is undoubtedly John and John

I, on the other hand, won't spare you Here is a page on the TMBG Wiki site with links to all the ads. http://www.tmbw.net/wiki/index.php/Amer ... _Dunkin%27

Now that I know that the songs are actually performed (and written?) by They Must be Giants, and not some marketing geek (no offense to marketing geeks, some of my best friends are marketing geeks), I am more inclined to be less critical of them. At least the band is making a living, which is more than can be said for a lot of musicians these days. But if I find myself subconciously singing "alarm clock catastrophe" one more time, it's back on.

gleam wrote:My favorite bit that I'd not noticed before: "Himan Plu Cento" on the menu.

Now that you mention it, I am always trying to catch everything on the menu as it flys by. Very clever, they got me to pay attention.

I'm throwing my hat into the ring -- like gleam, I love the songs. Adore them. They won't make me go to DD anytime soon -or ever - but I do appreciate the ads. They're a huge departure for DD and seem like a fairly obvious attempt to appeal to their core consumer. I like how quirky and off-kilter the tunes are - not what I would expect at all.

gleam wrote:Anyone know what's behind the whole glut of commercials involving 50+ people singing together? I'm not complaining, but is the same agency behind them? Copycatting? What?

Copycatting. I don't know this for sure, but I suspect you can at least partly attribute this choral reemergence to The Polyphonic Spree, and a Volkswagen commercial they backed in 2003. Not just in advertising, though.

don't don't don't let's start

Aaron Deacon wrote:
Copycatting. I don't know this for sure, but I suspect you can at least partly attribute this choral reemergence to The Polyphonic Spree, and a Volkswagen commercial they backed in 2003. Not just in advertising, though.

yeah ... I don't see the Polyphonic Spree. There's really nothing in any commercial I've seen that resembles them as it's all just different people lip-syncing to the same one person singing. There's no pseudo hippy orchestral in goofy robes with a theremin vibe to any of it. Volkswagen was using Stereolab songs in their ads years before the PS even existed.

It's more that most ad agencies are just following the few that do it well the first time and then they just copy it. Or to give a more concrete example, everyone eventually just copies Target's ads.

tem wrote:yeah ... I don't see the Polyphonic Spree.

Oh, I don't mean in this particular commercial. I don't see any direct connection either. I was responding to this comment:

gleam wrote:Anyone know what's behind the whole glut of commercials involving 50+ people singing together?

Honestly, I hadn't even really noticed this trend myself, but my TV-time is pretty limited.

Let's not forget the Amazon Glee Club ads of about five years ago, either.

Am I the only one who finds the whole premise ruined by the fact that the English word you use instead of some fancy-pants furrin word is "latte"? When did "latte" become an English word? Around the same time as "al dente" and "sashimi" if you ask me. I suppose it's saying you order a large latte instead of a superlativismo one, but still...

Mike G wrote:I suppose it's saying you order a large latte instead of a superlativismo one, but still...

Yeah, I suspect they were mostly taking aim at the Starbucks size naming convention. There, they have a sympathetic ear. I really resent cutesy size names, especially since the practice seems to be spreading. Whoever decided on the size names at Cold Stone Creamery should be shot. A "gotta have it" of chocolate? How quirky and non-corporate! Eeeeeugh.

Christopher Gordon wrote:don't don't don't let's start

Damn you!

Am I the only one who finds the whole premise ruined by the fact that the English word you use instead of some fancy-pants furrin word is "latte"?

No, check back to the original post, altho I have found the ensuing discourse on advertising soundtracks and jingles to be enlightening.

Off topic somewhat, but I've long been bothered by the unnecessary use of foreign words. Out of context, I find it discordant - like suzuki, hamachi, etc., especially in 'top' menus.
Is it hipper to have a foreign patois for food?*

*And I can never get this out of my head:“We’d like to order some farang, but what is farang, any way?”

OMG TMBG were one of my favorite bands growing up; Now I know why "Alarm Clock Catastrophe" sticks in my head so well (I can't stand that song, and I find myself singing it in my mind constantly sigh...).

If I go into a Cold Stone Creamery (which only ever happens when I'm in Arizona, where non-corporate ice cream is tough to find, much less frozen custard) I make it very clear not to use their asinine size names. Speaking of corporate ice cream, I find myself all too often at the new Carvel in Wilmette. Not objectively on the level of Chicago's best, but it's all about nostalgic value--I grew up in Northern New Jersey eating Carvel ice cream, and the mint chocolate chip tastes exactly the same as it did when I was eight years old.

In Sedona, AZ, a New Agey tourist town about two hours north of Phoenix, the local coffee shop, Ravenheart Coffee, has a sign on their cash register stating, "We Don't Speak Starbuckian." This is a cool little coffee place, especially since Arizona is probably the country's hardest state in which to find an independent.

I was most unfortunately reminded today that although I like most musical production commercials, I cannot remotely stand the Maxwell House ones.

Good god, are they awful.

Evan B. Druce wrote:Speaking of corporate ice cream, I find myself all too often at the new Carvel in Wilmette. Not objectively on the level of Chicago's best, but it's all about nostalgic value--I grew up in Northern New Jersey eating Carvel ice cream. . .

This whole discussion kinda makes me nostalgic for Frank Carvel's gravelly-voiced low-tech commercials. How about you?

Josephine wrote:This whole discussion kinda makes me nostalgic for Frank Carvel's gravelly-voiced low-tech commercials. How about you?

Mookie the whale! (or whatever that cake's name was)

tem wrote:
Sounds more like a bad Weezer knockoff to me, complete w/ the counter "Perhaps Fratalian" dude in dorky thick-rimmed glasses.

...who I immediately recognized from a role he had in an episode of Freaks And Geeks.

leek wrote:

Josephine wrote:This whole discussion kinda makes me nostalgic for Frank Carvel's gravelly-voiced low-tech commercials. How about you?

Mookie the whale! (or whatever that cake's name was)

Fudgie the whale!


and Cookie Puss!