The Easter Eggs In Dunkin's 2026 Super Bowl Commercial, Explained

Sure, America runs on Dunkin', but it's clear to pretty much everyone that the company's heart is planted squarely in Boston. This is never more evident than in the coffee chain's annual Super Bowl commercial showing. Dunkin's 2025 Super Bowl ad, a short film sequel to its 2024 DunKings commercial, prominently featured former Patriots' coach Bill Belichick, Boston native Jeremy Strong, and actors Ben and Casey Affleck, who grew up in nearby Cambridge. But the chain's 2026 entry might just beat out last year's project. 

The chain's newest ad, titled "Goodwill Dunkin': The Pilot" is a love letter to Boston, Ben Affleck, and the 1990s. Its premise is simple: what if Will Hunting, the working-class Boston math genius protagonist of "Good Will Hunting," was the lead of a '90s-style sitcom? Oh, and he works at Dunkin' in 1995. Making a visual representation of the Fibonacci Sequence using Munchkins, of course. 

Of course, the ad doesn't rest on its Affleck-led laurels, but instead fully leans into its Boston roots and nostalgic appeal. It features cameos from Bostonites both real and fictional, including Boston University alum Jason Alexander, who plays Will Hunting's boss. Tom Brady, the city's most famous (and beloved) quarterback, plays his ex-girlfriend's new beau. There are Easter eggs aplenty in the two-minute ad, so let's dig into this feast of references.

In "Good Will Dunkin'," Ben Affleck's take on the 1990s underdog is much more directly comedic than Matt Damon's portrayal of the character in the 1997 film, which both actors co-wrote. Instead of struggling against trauma and social class, Affleck's Hunting instead seems pretty content to arrange donuts and chitchat with the shop's regulars. Among them are Massachusetts-born actor and "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc as well as Boston native and Jasmine Guy of "A Different World" fame. Even Jaleel White's cameo has a connection, as the actor appeared on the show "Boston Legal." The new commercial is intentionally set in 1995, the year that iced coffee was introduced to the Dunkin' menu, and Hunting seemingly receives credit for inventing the drink.

Ted Danson, star of the Boston-based sitcom "Cheers," makes a short cameo in the commercial. He reprises the role of his smart aleck bar back persona to gently rib Affleck's Hunting about his long-term partnership with Dunkin'. Jennifer Aniston plays the ex-girlfriend from whom Hunting is taking a break (a callback to the infamous "Friends" story line). This round, however, Aniston has the last canned studio audience laugh when she presents her new boyfriend, portrayed by Tom Brady. In the end, all Affleck and his cadre of Bostonites can do is give a cheesy, '90's sitcom shrug. Ultimately, the whole sequence is a fun celebration of the city (or metro area) that Dunkin' calls home and the decade that birthed the chain's now beloved iced coffee (a favorite of Ben Affleck). The commercial was created by Dunkin' and Artists Equity, a production company owned by Affleck and his longtime creative partner, Matt Damon.