Dunkin’s Summer Campaign Turns Celebrities Into Interns

Dunkin’ has gotten a lot of mileage out of its partnership with Ben Affleck over the last year and change, but he and the DunKings are currently taking a well-deserved break. In their place, America’s second-largest coffee chain is bringing in a new pack of celebrities to promote its iced beverages this summer, and the roster is stuffed with both nostalgic stars and cutting-edge influencers to appeal to customers of every generation.

The new ad campaign stars Will Arnett and Corporate Natalie, a social media star who became famous for lambasting office culture online. The pair play members of the Dunkin’ C-suite onboarding a crew of “Dunkin’terns” who will spend the summer developing projects to promote so-called Big Dunkin’ Iced Energy (a phrase the company is surely hoping will catch on).

In the inaugural 30-second spot, the camera flashes to the interns sitting around the conference room table on their first day at work, treating them almost like Easter eggs: Joey Fatone of *NSYNC, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys, artist/director Hilton Carter, chef Nick DiGiovanni, and fashion designer Yoon Anh are all accounted for, and Dunkin’ notes in a press release that more celebrities will be revealed throughout the campaign. 

“Let’s put a Dunkin’ Iced in every hand this summer,” Arnett says to the assembled group. (This occurs just after a herky-jerky animatronic Ben Affleck fails to deliver iced coffee to the conference room. What type of appearance fee do we think Affleck gets paid for that?)

Much like the DunKings campaign, which spun off into a downloadable pop single and a line of merch, the Dunkin’terns will be creating actual projects this summer that align with both the Dunkin’ brand and their individual expertise. Joey Fatone and A.J. McLean, for example, will drop an iced coffee-themed song, while Nick DiGiovanni will curate a cocktail menu and Yoon Anh will design merchandise inspired by Dunkin’s Refreshers. 

It’s no surprise that Will Arnett has been tapped for Dunkin’s summer campaign. His deep Batman voice and comedic chops allow all sorts of brands to strike the self-aware promotional tone they hope will endear them to audiences. Arnett has previously been the voice of GMC, and in February 2024 he led Reese’s Super Bowl LVIII ad announcing Reese’s Big Cup With Caramel. 

Meanwhile, Dunkin’s emphasis on its iced beverages — including iced coffee, Dunkin’ Refreshers, and SPARKD’ energy drinks — is just a smart summer business strategy. In 2021, Starbucks noted on an earnings call that iced drinks made up a whopping 74% of total beverage sales in Q3; Dunkin’ itself was clocking the rise in year-round iced coffee drinkers as far back as 2011. Iced and frozen blended drinks are also widely understood to carry higher profit margins and increase revenue, and fruity drinks like the Refreshers can court a customer base of non-coffee drinkers. Is it any wonder that the brand hopes to “put a Dunkin’ Iced in every hand this summer?”