Ben Affleck pulls a prank as Matt Damon lookalike in Dunkin' Donuts ad promoting $1 donut
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA: Actor and director, Ben Affleck, is promoting Dunkin's new offer, the Dunkin Run, in a new ad, as revealed exclusively to People. In the ad, Affleck, who conceived, directed, and executed the ad, gets mistaken for his longtime friend and fellow actor Matt Damon. "I'm here for the Dunkin' Run…campaign, commercial," Affleck says in the ad, promoting the $1 donut when purchasing a medium or large coffee. "It's a great deal — a large coffee, a donut for a buck. I mean, it's pretty cool."
The two donut shop employees in the ad appear confused, not recognizing the actor. Affleck continues, "So I thought it would be like authentic and meta — yes, I'm doing the commercial, but am I doing the commercial? You know, I don't do commercials. I'm a real actor. This is an art form for me."
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'Are you in 'The Departed?'
In the ad, while one Dunkin' employee appears to not recognize Affleck, his co-worker tries to jog his memory by name-dropping a movie: "You know, 'The Departed'," she says, mistakenly assuming that Affleck is Damon who is also a Massachusetts native and Affleck's co-star in 'Good Will Hunting.' Affleck then repeats back "The Departed" while feigning offense for the mix-up. "Are you in 'The Departed?'" the Dunkin' barista asks to confirm, to which Affleck shakes his head, "I'm Matt Damon." After the barista says, "I love him," Affleck jokingly shakes his head in disapproval. "Nah, I mean some of his work," he cheekily says. "He's had a consistent career," the Dunkin' worker adds, to which Affleck grimaces and groans.
As the Dunkin' employee mistakenly identifies Affleck as Damon and mentions 'The Departed,' Affleck feigns offense and repeats the movie's name back to her. "I'm Matt Damon," he deadpans after confirming his true identity. When the barista expresses her admiration for Damon, Affleck jokes, "Nah, I mean some of his work. He's had a really consistent career." He grimaces and groans as the other employee adds, "Yeah, you can't deny that." Affleck, who personally chose the cast and crew for the ad, then exits the store with a donut and his usual coffee order, iced coffee with milk and two sugars, sometimes with Splenda.
Dunkin' connection and Super Bowl Ad
Affleck opened up to People about his connection to Dunkin' Donuts, reminiscing about his high school days in Massachusetts when grabbing coffee with friends was a regular occurrence. "I just took that for granted. I mean, if you were going to get coffee, there was no other coffee place that you would go to," he shared. Affleck's Dunkin' affiliation has also extended to his professional life as he starred in a Dunkin' Super Bowl commercial in February, featuring a surprise cameo from his partner, Jennifer Lopez.
In the ad, Affleck played a Dunkin' employee serving unsuspecting attendees their drinks and snacks in a hidden camera-like spot. At one point, while he was working the drive-thru, Lopez appeared and teased her husband. "What are you doing? Is that what you do when you say you're going to work all day?" she jokingly asked. Affleck, who developed the ads alongside his longtime friend and fellow actor, Damon, through their production company Artists Equity, said that the commercials were a long time in the making.
