Dunkin’ is cracking open a TV time capsule and letting the ’90s spill all over the Super Bowl, laugh track, VHS fuzz, and all. It’s what happens when you mix Saved by the Bell, Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, A Different World, Seinfeld, Friends and god knows anything else! Heck, even Cheers.
For Super Bowl LX, the brand goes full after-school sitcom with Good Will Dunkin’, a spot that plays like a lost NBC Saturday-morning sitcom. The hook is gloriously dumb in the best way: what if Good Will Hunting wasn’t about MIT hallways and tortured genius, but about a wisecracking Dunkin’ employee in Boston who just happens to be really, really good at math?
In the 60-second spot, Ben Affleck steps into Matt Damon’s iconic role, only this time he’s solving equations on a Dunkin’ window between coffee orders, not brooding on a chalkboard. Shot on actual film and styled like a 1995 pilot that somehow never aired, the ad leans hard into classic sitcom grammar: broad reactions, cozy lighting, canned laughter, and that unmistakable “hang out after school and watch TV” energy. Watch below:
The casting is pure ’90s comfort food. Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Jason Alexander, Ted Danson, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jaleel White, and Jasmine Guy all cycle through the store like it’s a shared sitcom universe, each one bringing just enough meta wink to make the joke land. And because it’s Boston, a Tom Brady cameo drops in to button the whole thing.
The central gag hinges on one very Dunkin’ idea: while everyone else is focused on the “genius,” the real breakthrough hiding in plain sight is iced coffee. In the world of Good Will Dunkin’, it’s still a novelty, treated like some strange new invention that might just change mornings forever. It’s a sly way for the brand to remind viewers it was early to the cold coffee game, without ever sounding like a history lesson.
Rather than spoofing Good Will Hunting beat for beat, the spot borrows its soul. The message is simple and very sitcom: greatness doesn’t always look important. Sometimes it’s just a guy behind the counter, a stack of donuts, and a good cup of coffee.
The campaign was teased earlier with a faux “rediscovered” VHS tape, setting up the idea that this forgotten TV relic was about to finally see the light of day. Dunkin’ is keeping the bit going after the game too, rolling out free iced coffee offers, limited ’90s-style merch, and a math-inspired challenge tied back to the ad.
It’s goofy, self-aware, and unapologetically nostalgic, the kind of Super Bowl spot that doesn’t try to be cool so much as comfortable. Like a rerun you didn’t know you missed, but are very happy to see again.
REDITS:
BRAND: Dunkin’
AGENCY: Artists Equity
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