Artkansas 

There is their response to my protest. There is hope. Send in those cards and letters.

KrisPistofferson

I think that's what they call a "form letter." Sounds better than "You have no sense of humor, so I deleted your e-mail.-Julie"

Besides, it's been six months, and nobody can post one case where someone has used that Dunkin Donuts commercial as an excuse for hitting/dooring/etcetera of a cyclist? This is an idiotic thread. Seems like if you guys watched some Benny Hill or Three Stooges, your brains would melt down.

There are plenty of things I'd love to see the general public wake up to as far as comuting and advocacy goes, but when someone mentions the word "cyclist," and the first thing someone like Julie thinks of are all the internet whiners who do not understand hyperbole for the sake of comedy, I consider that counterproductive. Shoot, Julie and all her "Customer Relations Associates" have probably had several good laughs around the water cooler at our expense. Is this really how we want to be percieved? Lighten the **** up, people, lest WE become the joke.

curt in denver

+1

Satyr

I am obliged to give this spiel everytime a comment comes that claims any form of media advertisement is beneign.

Are these adds as harmless as the multitude of ads that essentially tell women they are ugly unless they have some beauty product?

Are they as "harmless" as the ads that connect great freedom and joy with owning a vehicle (that is, almost every American car advert)?

To think that you, or anyone else, is totally unaffected by an advertisement is simply not being aware of how our essential identities are shaped by the society we live in. For a lot of things, it takes knowing the other side a bit to really consider them with any sort of meaningful authority. A lot of intelligent, fairly normal males write off feminism as a joke, for instance, having really never experienced sexism or being told you are limited just because you have female sex organs.

These issues are real, and pertinent. Especially in humour, where you CAN say and do things not normally acceptable to convey a point. Why do you think political humour is so spectacular, and also effective? As the saying goes, there is a little bit of truth in every joke.

And I am not trying to bash anyone here or anything, just wish more of us would educate ourselves about these things. Western society's more or less self assurance (sometimes arrogance) is one of it's sharpest double edged swords. People really do think they know a lot more than they do, and in so doing never expose themselves to new worlds.

FXjohn

Gee, who resurrected this thread?

I think the education here is in over-analyzing and naval gazing by people like you LOL

huhenio

All I see is Donuts .... coffee ...

I'm off to DD

BroMax

On my first reading, I agreed with L2006 who said it was just an ad. But as I was surfing around BF, it occurred to me..."bike commuter" evoked the image of a man (a white man, even) being shoved off his bike. I have little doubt that's how it was depicted too.

So, I'm a latent racist and sexist. Even worse than that, if you had reported the bike commuter was a woman, I'd have found that objectionable. Same infringement of the same rights. I bet I'm not the only person of either sex who would make a similar discrimination.

If someone already mentioned this, sorry to be redundant. I haven't read the whole string.

BroMax

I like Tim Hortons but I'm disappointed about their marriage with Wendy's and their crossing south of the border. Before those things happened, going to Tim's was a very Canadian thing to do. I still prefer Tim's or Dunkin' Donuts to $tarbucks, where it's not possible to order "coffee" in less than a paragraph.

BroMax

Finally, There are lots of abbreviations that serve double or triple duty; but for those unaware of it, the Mormons got to LDS first. They use it as an abbreviation for Latter Day Saints. If the new "LDS" trickles into the common lexicon, it could make for some truly humourous misunderstandings. Sorry if this offends anyone.

Jarery

Speaking of Tim Hortons invading places other than Canada...now this is expansion

https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060308/...ghanistan_dc_1

KrisPistofferson

No, I'm actually fairly savvy about marketing techniques, and you are dead-on about some of the ways commercials try to target emotions, but the point trying to be conveyed by this commercial is "These donuts are so goshdarn good, your desire will override your common sense," which was then presented in a humorous fashion. The message was NOT, as the OP and many others have consistently implied, "We here at Dunkin Donuts advocate violence to the commuting cyclist,"

So you've made a fairly intelligent post, but missed the forest for the trees. And that's as nice as I can be. Cyclists, pedestrians and skateboarders get greased on "The Simpsons" all the time, but nobody makes these idiotic threads about them, are people's "suspension of disbelief" stronger when it's a cartoon?

billh

donuts are evil. therefore, I will run down the next pedestrian I see eating a donut and chasing a bus . . . before he gits me.

familytrain

there is only one solution, and that is JIHAD!

these donuts of evil will be forever dunked in the fiery depths of hell, Farah be praised.

yes, Farah: Farah Faucett. there is not got but Farah.

thank you for listening.

billh

Wow, I got mine the same day . . . Jessica . . . Julie . . . they all have such hot names . . .

Dear William

Thank you for taking the time to contact Dunkin' Donuts. We always
appreciate hearing from our customers. It's important to us to get
feedback both good and bad about our products, services and advertising. We
sincerely apologize to you if you found our advertising offensive. We
will make sure your comments get heard and shared with the appropriate
people.

At Dunkin' Donuts we value our customers and are committed to making
your experiences with us memorable and pleasant.

Thank you and have a great day.




Jessica

Customer Relations Associate


Ref # 475240

spencerdav

Sounds kinda funny. Sucks when you fall off your bike, but it is funny watching someone else do it. Atleast as long they are not hurt. I am sure no cyclist were hurt in the filming of the donut commercial.

SingingSabre 

I already avoid DD. Their "holiday" boxes really irritate me. If you're going to go with Christmas colors, call it a Christmas box. Don't call it a holiday box and pretend that you're acknowledging all the other winter holidays (Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Saturnalia, etc.).

A DD employee told me that they're putting out the "holiday" boxes by September this year. Barf.

*steps off soapbox*

I really think that they're just showing the best way to use their food as fuel in the commercial. Remember, you can burn jelly doughnuts rather than gasolene. Coffee is just supercharging your engine!

Getting offended at this commercial is like the handful of Mexicans who got offended at the Taco Bell dog commercials. It's just a harmless commercial. As a previous poster mentioned, it's not causing self esteem issues or damaging anyone.

ken cummings

Allied Domecq , wow. Big time wine dealer. We could sell wine filled donuts around here, just gel the wine and pump it into the pastry. "Will you have some cabernet with your cruller Sir?"

ken cummings

Dennys

KrisPistofferson

Maybe now Dunkin Donuts will quit attacking you on your commute. Way to go, billh!

gear

This weeks episode of Scrubs showed one of the characters hitting two bikes (one had a rider on it) in a frenzy of hatred for bikers. Granted the character is supposed to be an #"*hole; but do these humerous skits repeated over and over have an effect on the public at large?

I-Like-To-Bike

Look out for falling anvils! Oh the Horror!

billh

No one is going to find a direct cause and effect relationship between a specific ad and a specific assault. HOWEVER . . . what I observe on my daily commute is a general cultural climate of hostility toward cyclists. Yeah, maybe if I just laughed it off, it would all go away . . . NOT. Whether the DD commercial contributes to the climate of hostility toward cyclists or is simply a reflection of it, who knows? Will complaining to some automaton customer rep via a web page make a difference, who knows? But sure as hell, I'm sick and tired of being pushed around on the road, and I'm mad as hell, and SOMEONE gonna heara bout it.

KrisPistofferson

Bump LOL

KrisPistofferson

rat_factory

HA! this old thread always makes me laugh.