Dunkin's Donuts Intros Breakfast Wrap

Dunkin's Donuts has expanded their breakfast food line-up with their new Wake-Up Wrap.

The Wake-Up Wrap is a five-inch round tortilla served toasted with scrambled egg (half an egg) and a slice of American cheese. It is priced at 99¢. A slice of cherrywood smoked bacon can be added for 30¢ more.

The Wake-Up Wrap is listed on Dunkin' Donuts' DDSMART menu of better-for-you foods and beverages. It has 170 calories and 10 grams of fat. Here's the complete nutritional data:

The Wake-Up Wrap coincides with Dunkin's new advertising campaign and slogan "Breakfast NOT Brokefast." The new advertising campaign "declares that in these challenging times, a fast and delicious breakfast needn't cost Americans more than pocket change."

Part of the new ad campaign will be display ads at public fountains in NY, Chicago & Boston... the displays will have legs sticking up from the water with nearby signs stating, "Please Do Not Remove Change for 99¢ Items at Dunkin' Donuts." Like this:

This photo was supplied by Dunkin' Donuts ad agency behind the campaign, Hill Holliday. It was taken today at Copley Mall in Boston.

UPDATE: A review of Dunkin' Donuts Wake-Up Wrap is already available at Grub Grade.

Vote In Dunkin's Next New Donut Contest

Back in March, Dunkin' Donuts announced its first-ever "Creat Dunkin's Next Donut" online contest, with a $12,000 grand prize.

Of the nearly 13,000 submissions they received, Dunkin' has selected 12 finalists from which you can pick your favorite and vote for it.

The 12 finalists will be traveling to Dunkin' Donuts University in Braintree, MA on May 28th for a bake-off before Dunkin's Donuts' culinary team and company leaders, along with Paul Mullins, author of Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut, and Diane Werner, food director for Taste of Home, the #1 cooking magazine in the country.

The winner will be chosen based on the voting results and the bake-off.

Here are the 12 finalists:

• "A Nutter One" - A chocolate butter kreme-filled donut with peanut butter icing and chopped Reese's® Peanut Butter Cups (Carol D'Angio, Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
• "Bodacious Banana" - A Bananas Foster-filled donut with chocolate icing topped with shredded coconut (Christine Roman, Ellenville, NY)
• "Chocolate Monkey" - A Bananas Foster-filled donut with chocolate icing topped with Hershey®'s Milk Chocolate shavings (Michelle Ventura, Cranston, RI)
• "Economic Crunch" - A cake donut with chocolate icing topped with graham cracker crunch and butternut crunch (Michael McNeil, Aliso Viejo, CA)
• "Frozen Assets" - A chocolate mint Bavarian-filled donut with white icing topped with blue and green sprinkles (Kimberly Brooks, Orlando, FL)
• "Grandma's Blueberry Maple Donut" - A blueberry cake donut with maple icing topped with graham cracker crunch (Caitlyn Vandervelde, Coventry, RI)
• "Mexican Hot Chocolate" - A chocolate cake stick filled with marshmallow and topped with chocolate icing, Hershey®'s Cinnamon shavings and Hershey®'s Vanilla shavings (Jane Boderck, Easton, PA)
• "Sm'OREO" - A marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate icing topped with OREO® cookie pieces and graham cracker crunch (Laura Sherland, Smithtown, NY)
• "The Graham Slam" - A marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate icing topped with graham cracker crunch and white sprinkles (Nevrie Dauti, Wayne, NJ)
• "The King" - A Bananas Foster-filled donut with peanut butter icing and chopped peanuts (James Smith, Mount Vernon, NY)
• "Toffee For Your Coffee" - A glazed, sour cream cake donut topped with chopped Heath® Bar (Jeff Hager, Hoover, AL)
• "Tour de France" - A chocolate cake stick with hazelnut kreme glaze (Lindsay Piccotti, Clay, NY)

Vote for your favorite at www.dunkindonuts.com/donut

Dunkin' Donuts Shamrock Donut

Dunkin' Donuts has a special "Lucky Dozen Donut" coming up for you this St. Patrick's Day with green shamrocks and yellow and white sprinkles.

Maybe if you bring these to the office you won't have to wear that one article of green clothing you hate but break out every year for St. Paddy's day.

McDonald's Still After Starbucks Customers

McDonald's is showing some serious stamina in their quest to take some (or much, or all) of Starbucks business.

Their campaign started in April of 2005 when they announced their new specialty coffee drinks. Since then their coffee outranked Starbucks in a Consumer Reports survey and they've come up with some interesting coffee product placement on TV news among other things.

Then, earlier this year, Starbucks announced the closing of 600+ of their stores and some say McDonald's attempt to become a morning 'beverage destination' was at least a little part of the problem for Starbucks.

And now this:

Wow, McDonald's isn't letting up and they're going after Starbucks head-on now.

Another billboard (also appearing in the Seattle area, Starbucks home turf) reads "large is the new grande."

This ad tactic really takes advantage of the tough economic times, too. Some people are starting to realize that cutting the $4+ coffee from their daily routine can really save them some money ($1,460 per year).

Dunkin' Donuts has also been pointing this out and has certainly done some damage to Starbucks business, too, with their "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Starbucks" campaign and their independent study showing that folks prefer Dunkin' Donuts coffee over Starbucks.

image via Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Dunkin' Donuts Has Holiday Items

If you've been in any store since Halloween (heck, even before Halloween) you've certainly noticed that the "Holidays" are here. You may not being thinking too much about your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Break plans yet, but retailers absolutely are!

And in our little fast food world, the "Holiday" items are rolling in! So far, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-a have special Holiday shakes.

But shakes don't fulfill our Holiday cravings in the morning.... Dunkin' Donuts to the rescue!

Dunkin' Donuts has a bunch of things for us, including seasonal menu items, gifts and special deals.

Dunkin's ever-expanding and highly acclaimed coffee offerings adds the Mocha Spice Latte (shown above, over some Holiday Munchkins). The Mocha Spice Latte combines cinnamon and French Vanilla flavors topped with a swirl of Mocha Swirl syrup and the traditional recipe of fresh espresso, steaming milk and whipped cream. (And for those of you spending the winter months in warmer climates the Mocha Spice Latte is available iced, too.)

As mentioned and shown above, Dunkin' Donuts and Munchkins are available now with festive holiday-themed decorations and icing. Now you can put the office in a festive, holiday mood when you pick up the office donuts in the morning!

Another new item is the brownie topped with chocolate icing, white chocolate shavings and chocolate drizzle.

The new Holiday Dunkin' Donuts deal: you can purchase a bagel with cream cheese for just 99 cents when you order a medium or larger hot coffee.

If you're looking for a holiday gift for a coffee lover (without blowing the lid off of your budget), Dunkin' Donuts has several gifts available in participating stores and at www.DunkinDonuts.com, including the Dunkin' Donuts' Coffee Lover's Gift Set (over the Munchkins in the photo above), which includes two pounds of Dunkin's Original Blend coffee and two thermal travel mugs, for $19.99.

The seasonal menu items, flavors, and deals will be available today (November 12) through December 29, 2008

Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Beats Starbucks

Dunkin' Donuts has been promoting their coffee as an alternative to Starbucks for some time now.

When they promoted their Latte with a TV ad, they spoofed Starbucks' odd names for small, medium and large. I enjoyed that, because when I rarely find myself in a Starbucks I can never remember what they call a medium. (It's "Grande" by the way, I looked it up!)

Now an independent study has found 58%, of 476 people tested that had a preference, prefered Dunkin' Donuts "Original Blend" coffee to Starbucks' "House Blend" coffee.

And Dunkin' isn't being shy about letting everyone know that they beat Starbucks and are going head-to-head with them to compete for their morning coffee business.

The first TV ad promoting this is below. And they've set up a new site, www.DunkinBeatStarbucks.com, to tell the world and let you spread the word, too.

About the test: The double-blind taste test involved 476 adults, each of whom had consumed regular, hot brewed coffee within the past week. For the test, A&G Research used fresh packaged coffee purchased in each brand's stores, tested each brand's most popular flavor (Dunkin' Donuts Original Blend versus Starbucks House Blend), brewed the coffee using equipment recommended by each brand and served it black.

Dunkin' Donuts: America's Latte Break, 99¢

Dunkin' Donuts new "American Latte Break" means that now through November 11, on weekdays between 2 and 5pm, small hot or iced Lattes at Dunkin' Donuts are only 99 cents.

Another 'Dunkin' Deal' is a 99¢ Egg and Cheese Sandwich with the purchase of a medium or larger hot coffee.

"Americans are facing more and more challenges every day, as the economy forces many hard-working people to make difficult choices to keep their spending down. Whether or not to treat yourself to an afternoon latte shouldn't have to be one of them," said Frances Allen, Brand Marketing Officer for Dunkin' Donuts. "Dunkin' Donuts has been serving great coffee for more than 50 years, and no one knows better than us how important a cup of coffee can be in keeping people at their best. With America's Latte Break, those who keep this country running can keep themselves running with a delicious, high-quality latte, without breaking the bank."

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But the best thing about getting a Latte at Dunkin' Donuts is that you can order one by saying "small, medium, or large." That is, you're not forced to use the vocabulary invented by some coffee company's marketing department.

I was reminded of this when I watched this ad on Dunkin's site:

I know this is an old rant that's been beaten into the ground. But, yet, Starbucks is still insisting we use their terminology... so maybe this rant has been ranted loud enough yet for Starbucks to hear.

I just find it so hard, so insulting to my sensibilities to be forced to use Starbucks artificial, elitist 'words' to specify what size coffee I want from their "Baristas!"

So, to help make my point, I'll present you with this oldy, but goody:

Dunkin' Donuts Southwest Chicken Flatbread

Dunkin' Donuts has introduced a new Southwest Chicken Flatbread Sandwich.

This is an addition to their Turkey, Cheddar & Bacon; Ham & Swiss; and Grilled Cheese flatbread sandwichs.

First it was gourmet coffee, now Dunkin' is continuing to expand their all-day food menu.

Dunkin' Donuts also has personal pizzas and hash browns available.

The Southwest Chicken Flatbread Sandwich has 400 calories, 90 calories from fat, 10 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 60 mg cholesterol, 1130 mg sodium, 51 carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber 7 grams sugar and 29 grams protein.