Where have you gone, Fred the Baker?

Rachael Ray is the new face of Dunkin' Donuts. Among things I cannot fathom, this right up there with Brit shaving her head, or Tuna Wellington. First of all, unlike, say Estee Lauder, Dunkin' Donuts had gotten along just fine without a face. Second, and more important, Dunkin' Donuts is a regional chain. They do have them outside of the broadcast range of WEEI, but it just ain't the same. Is the same chain that purveys the official breakfast sandwich of the New England Patriots really putting a Jet/Giant fan on billboards? Also, it is really hard to see how this works out for Rach. Esp in the wake of Starbucks hegemony, Dunkin' donuts is resolutely blue collar. You could replace the diatribe Woody Harrelson delivers in The People vs. Larry Flynt about his publication vis a vis Playboy with Dunkin' and Starbucks, and get the general idea. Dunkin' Donuts is about delivering an heroic dose of caffeine, sugar and fat to the masses so they can go out and do their jobs. The culture of Dunkin' is the culture of work and the workplace, while Rach seems to be about home, and something approximating leisure. More important, even if she does take shortcuts, Rach seems to be about doing things yourself, so it's hard to see how that translates to a fast food outlet. First Trupiano, and now this. That guy who sold his allegiance to the Devil Rays might be on to something.

Update: Worse and more of it. With NHL games shifting to the Food Network next year, we have uneasy joint appearances with Rach and Cam Neeely to look forward to.

Comments

[cinetrix]

YUCK-O!

[Uncle Grambo]

Excellent analysis, CodPiece. But you left one pivotal question unanswered: does this mean they're gonna dump the John Goodman voiceover?

[Rose's Lime]

1)Those living in the lower 42 haven't been innundated with the "America Runs on Dunkin" campaign that looks like it was the brainchild of the folks at Bain Capital. This can only be an improvement.

2) I think Fesser just made an anology where Rachael "taco pie" Ray is high culture and Dunkin Donuts is low culture. I'm no Bourdieu, but I don't think you're going to get 800's on anybody's cultural studies test with that one.

3) OK... maybe RR is chosen for her "philosophy of creating quality meals quickly and without pretense" or maybe because she's cute but not too thin and serves as a realistic aspiration figure for Dunkin's patrons.

4) I know management's objective has been to make the brand more national and one of the ways to do that is to drop the Pats and Sox for national spokespeople. Another aspect has been to drop the donuts. Look for a brand change to DND a la KFC. I don't think either's a great idea. They should take a lesson from Warren Buffet who's still pimpin' Barry and Elliot.

5) I'm looking forward to RR's Donut-based recipes. In fact, I'm going to whip me up some baked coolata and chocolate donut bread pudding. Yum!

[Fesser]

Rose's Lime-- too much time with engineers has you thinking in binaries. Rach is all about the middlebrow, not to be confused with the unibrow. Though, to follow your analogy, Playboy would be high culture, which would make both Clement Greenberg and the good folks at Taschen sad.
I think the Jordan's comparison is apt. All Izzo, all the time would be the answer. I seem to recall that Izzo pulled the old donut trick on his former Dolphin teammates after the first Pats SB win, but I could be conflating several events.

[Rose's Lime]

After a closer reading of the text I see you were asking whether RR wouldn't be better served separating herself from the lowbrow DND. Well... I think we've all seen RR doesn't shy away from exposure.

I like Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen for DND - supply your own lewd tagline.