# Dunkin' Donuts: Reverse Stereotyping? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995 "2010-01-07T04:02:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/41 "2010-01-07T18:05:18Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > **Jinx** , perhaps you have a story you’d like to share about a particular time or times when you’ve actually had difficulties communicating with a donut shop employee and were therefore unable to satisfactorily do business there. Well I live in Manhattan and it depends on which store you visit. The DD next to my apartment has mostly Latino & Black workers, and we’ve never had any trouble communicating. However there are several DDs in the Penn Station area that are entirely staffed by Indians, and more often than not they have had trouble understanding what I was asking for. It became so problematic that I no longer buy anything from those shops as I just got fed up with them getting orders wrong, giving me the wrong prices, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/42 "2010-01-07T18:35:18Z")
The DD next to my office has several employees from East Asia and some black employees. But their communication skills are top notch. Other DDs in the area (there are lots of them) have staffs with different ethnic makeups, including all white kids out in the burbs. So, I think the OPs claims are pretty much bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/43 "2010-01-07T18:49:25Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Depends on how you think of “New England”; If you’re talking about Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, you’re right. If you add Massachusetts, Connecticut, and, particularly, New York, not so much. > > From the U.S. Census, Percentage of “White Persons” 2008: > > Maine: 96.4 > Vermont: 96.4 > New Hampshire: 95.5 > Iowa: 94.2 > Nebraska: 91.4 > North Dakota: 91.4 > Wisconsin: 89.7 > Minnesota: 89.0 > South Dakota: 88.2 > Massachusetts: 86.2 > Connecticut: 84.3 > New York: 73.4 > > (That’s not a top X or anything, that’s just me comparing New England to the area _I_ think of when someone says “the whitest region of the country”) > > Sadly, I can’t find any convenient way of actually getting the Census Bureau web site to tell me what the top 10 whitest states actually are. Hey! Where’s Rhode Island? We may be small, but we still count darn it! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/44 "2010-01-07T19:10:06Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I noticed how the Dunkin’ Donuts (DD) ads on TV all have clear, English speaking Caucasians. I know you’ll think I am prejudice, but I am not. I just feel I shouldn’t have to be a lingust specialized in parts of Asia just to execute the purchase of a donut and coffee! Ironically, I am a well-spoken Caucasian who has actually done the voiceover for a Dunkin’ Donuts ad - in Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/45 "2010-01-07T19:11:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Why has nobody commented about the deep irony that the totally incoherent, grammar-challenged, logic-deprived OP was actually written by an English-speaking Caucasian? How do you know the OP is a Caucasian? ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/46 "2010-01-07T19:11:51Z")
don’tcha love when an OP disappears? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/47 "2010-01-07T19:12:57Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Ironically, I am a well-spoken Caucasian who has actually done the voiceover for a Dunkin’ Donuts ad - in Asia. I’m sorry, could you repeat that? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/48 "2010-01-07T19:25:03Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > I was in Dunkin Donuts today With you so far.. > [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > (the donut was good, the coffee was terrible). Ah, now your story has fallen apart completely. Unless this is a posting that got routed through a wormhole from an opposite-world Dope? Dunkin ‘Donuts’ are various shapes of possibly edible material drowned in a glaze made out of sugar, concentrated foot fungus, rotted organ meat and the rejects from the perfume factory. Whearas the coffee, while perhaps not as good as something given to you by someone pretentious enough to be called a ‘barista’, is decent, and probably better than anywhere without such pretension. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/49 "2010-01-07T19:31:36Z")
Why’s a cracker’s alarm clock set to 3 am? Time to make the doughnuts! How’d white people get to America? The first one used a map and compass, the rest followed the powdered sugar trail. How do you get a white girl to put out? Glaze a condom. How’d the cracker burn his face? Bobbing for doughnuts. Why was Robinson Crusoe the only survivor of his shipwreck? He ate all the life preservers. Why are white people such bad gymnasts? They keep choking on the rings. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/50 "2010-01-07T19:40:48Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > don’tcha love when an OP disappears? Probably sleeping it off. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/51 "2010-01-07T19:43:29Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Probably sleeping it off. Please leave the personal jabs out of this. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/52 "2010-01-07T19:46:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Please leave the personal jabs out of this. While I disagree with your interpretation of that extremely broad and cheap joke, it’s your interpretation that matters. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/53 "2010-01-07T19:48:23Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I said, I am vell speaking cork asian who have done voicings oven for Drunken Do Not in a jar. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/54 "2010-01-07T19:55:55Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Depends on how you think of “New England”; If you’re talking about Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, you’re right. If you add Massachusetts, Connecticut, and, particularly, New York, not so much. New York is not part of New England. The other five states, plus Rhode Island makes up New England. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/55 "2010-01-07T20:04:59Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I said, I am vell speaking cork asian who have done voicings oven for Drunken Do Not in a jar. Hey! [No Asians!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YM9Ereg2Zo) (Video) ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/56 "2010-01-07T20:22:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Please leave the personal jabs out of this. I should probably apologize too. Especially since it was my comment that sparked the response that got **k2k** in trouble. I went back and looked at the time it was posted - it was late last night. It’s highly possible the OP’er is at work and therefore has not been able to explain himself. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/57 "2010-01-07T20:36:20Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Dunkin Donuts is a chain from New England, the whitest region of the country. I’m not sure why the OP would expect people in the ads to differ from the ones behind the counter in most of the stores. It all depends on where you are in New England. In most of the areas I travel, the staff’s verbal skills are fine… but all too often, near the “city-type” areas, Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Salem NH, Nashua, Manchester, the verbal skills are non-existent in English. Large Coffee, black, one Sweet & Low isn’t something that requires a great deal of translation skills, but you’d be amazed how many times it comes with milk/cream in the “city-type” areas. The coffee of DD is fine, it’s the donuts that stink. It tended to be the reverse (IMO) in the small donut shops, when they existed, pre-DD expansion. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/58 "2010-01-07T20:45:49Z")
The donuts suffered when they went from every shop making their own, to having a central bakery that did distribution. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/59 "2010-01-07T21:07:39Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Nobody who couldn’t speak clearly or enunciate would get very far in life. It would likely be a symptom of a neurological disorder if they were unable to use language well enough to communicate with the outside world. A marginally-relevant anecdote: 2 nights ago, I got a telemarketing call, asking if I’d be willing to participate in a survey. (Probably sponsored by AT&T, gauging the effectiveness of their packaged bundle ad campaigns). Bored with what was on TV, I said sure, what the hell. The questions went on for 10 minutes, and after a few minutes I just answered with the middle-of-the-road response, because between the speakers boredom with his job, his accent and the marbles in his mouth, I could not understand a freakin’ word he said. I was thinking jeez, buddy, are you in the wrong line of work – and if a supervisor ever hears this recording, you will be looking for the right line quick. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995/60 "2010-01-08T08:01:45Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Can you point to a specific one, and tell me who is being discriminated against? I can see how an ad might be racist, or prejudiced, or bigoted, but discriminatory? I’ll need a bit more explanation. Sorry, I was posting late (for me) last night and had sort of conflated “discriminatory” with all those other anti-whomever terms. Thinking about the definition of “discriminatory” all I can come up with off the top of my head are ad campaigns that offer deals or discounts but only to men or only to women. Sociological Images does the same thing, though, with one [tag](http://contexts.org/socimages/tag/prejudicediscrimination/) covering prejudice and discrimination. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dunkin-donuts-reverse-stereotyping/523995.md?page=4)