PHILADELPHIA, PA — Dunkin’ is turning the clock back to 1995 on the biggest advertising stage of the year, unveiling a never-aired ’90s sitcom pilot during Super Bowl LX that imagines the accidental birth of iced coffee inside a Massachusetts Dunkin’ — and backing the nostalgia play with nearly two million free coffees the morning after the game.
The spot, titled Good Will Dunkin’, stars Ben Affleck as “Will,” a fast-talking South Boston kid working at a Dunkin’ in Cambridge, where a mundane shift spirals into pop-culture lore. Framed as a long-lost television pilot, the ad leans hard into classic sitcom rhythms — laugh tracks, big reactions and even bigger hair — while featuring an ensemble cast of ’90s television icons including Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Jason Alexander, Ted Danson, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jaleel White and Jasmine Guy, capped by a surprise cameo from Tom Brady.
Set in the same year Dunkin’ first began advertising iced coffee, the fictional episode plays off the spirit of Good Will Hunting, recasting Affleck’s working-class genius not in academia but behind a Dunkin’ counter. Between orders, Will scribbles math equations on the store window and organizes MUNCHKINS donut holes into the Fibonacci sequence, convincing a skeptical manager, played by Alexander, that a once-in-a-generation mind is brewing coffee.
The campaign blends Dunkin’s Boston roots with Affleck’s long-running association with the brand, presenting iced coffee not as a menu item but as a cultural breakthrough hiding in plain sight. In one key exchange, the script nods to a time when iced coffee was far from ubiquitous, positioning Dunkin’ as an early mover in bringing it into the mainstream.
The ad’s rollout began with Affleck teasing a mysterious VHS tape online, fueling speculation about a “forgotten masterpiece.” That mystery is resolved with the Super Bowl reveal, which marks the fourth time Affleck has directed a Dunkin’ commercial for the game. The project was developed in collaboration with Artists Equity and designed to feel like a genuine artifact that somehow slipped through the cracks of television history.
“The ’90s gave us iconic sitcoms, and Dunkin’ gave the world iced coffee,” said Jill Nelson, Dunkin’s chief marketing officer. “Good Will Dunkin’ brings us back in time to imagine the moment those worlds collided.”
To tie the fictional origin story to real-world rewards, Dunkin’ will give away 1.995 million free coffees of any size on Super Bowl Monday, February 9, through the Dunkin’ app. Guests can redeem the offer using the code GOODWILLDUNKIN while supplies last.
The nostalgia push extends beyond the screen. Dunkin’ has launched a limited-edition line of vintage and ’90s-inspired merchandise, including mugs, tumblers, a denim jacket and novelty accessories inspired by the ad. The collection is available at DunkinRunsOnMerch.com.
The brand is also turning the ad’s math-heavy premise into a real-world challenge. Dunkin’ teamed up with MIT professor and former NFL player John Urschel to release a whiteboard math problem inspired by the spot. One fan who solves it will receive free Dunkin’ coffee for a year, along with signed merchandise from Affleck and Matt Damon.
By blending sitcom nostalgia, Boston mythology and a modern marketing blitz, Dunkin’ is betting that comfort television and comfort coffee are a natural pairing — and that a fictional “lost pilot” can still make a very real splash nearly three decades later.
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