Ben Affleck: Dunkin’ on television

Ben Affleck officially became a Dunkin’ ambassador in February 2023 when he starred in and produced a commercial, also featuring Jennifer Lopez. He was back the following year, also featuring JLo, and then again last year, without JLo, but joined instead by his brother, Casey, Bill Belichick, and Jeremy Strong. This year there are even more celebrities recruited.

According to Page Six Ben’s been shooting the spot recently in LA with Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jason Alexander, and Ted Danson, with Ted supposedly reprising his role as “Sam” from Cheers. Tom Brady is also apparently part of it. 

With the exception of Tom, though, obviously there’s a theme: all of these celebrities starred in iconic sitcoms – Cheers, Seinfeld, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air …and ALL of them were on NBC. Which happens to be the Super Bowl broadcaster in 2026. So there’s a lot of synergy happening here, but I’m curious about this budget because, holy sh-t, these are some names that come with high rates. 

It’s a great idea, though, and not just for the celebrity factor. Ben seems to be reading the marketing reports. Gen Z is the demo everyone is chasing (even though they don’t spend money) and the thing about Gen Z is that while it’s assumed that what they’re interested in is what’s new, the truth about younger viewing habits is that they skew old. 

The Ankler had a piece about this recently - reporting that even though there’s so much effort being put into new shows for Gen Z telling Gen Z stories, the Gen Z audience is gravitating more towards shows in the streaming library. Like Seinfeld, like Friends, The Office, Grey’s Anatomy… 

One of the reasons for this is that there’s so much, it’s always there. Multiple seasons, and typically with network shows, it’s a higher episode count per season. For Gen Z, there is comfort in knowing that there’s always a supply, that they can spend a whole weekend bingeing and still not be close to done. Old shows have become a comfort watch. Casting the stars from old shows in a Super Bowl ad, then, is a smart way to hit all the demos. You’re getting Gen Z and their parents and maybe their parents’ parents, a Venn diagram of names and faces that they all know. Plus Tom Brady, ugh. 

Obviously we’ll have to see what the end product of this commercial looks like but on the idea side, it’s a good one in terms of who they’re trying to reach. 

Here's Ben at the Grand Prix in Vegas last week.