Dunkin’ Donuts announced officially on Sept. 26 that the company will be changing its beloved name to just ‘Dunkin’’ this January. 

“After 68 years of America running on Dunkin’, we’re moving to a first-name basis. Excited to be #BFFstatus with you all,” the company tweeted on Sept. 25.

[media-credit name=”Graphic by Janna Marnell” align=”alignright” width=”335″][/media-credit]“This is an effort to make the company more beverage-led, and relevant for years to come.” David Hoffman, CEO and President, said. 

No need to fear, doughnuts will still be on the menu. But, Dunkin’s started migrating away from them back in 2013, according to The New York Times. Beverage sales have increased to 60 percent over the last year.

In 2014, Dunkin’ released a commercial where numerous people of different jobs, ages, genders and backgrounds all said what they were drinking. All of the actors responded, “I’m drinking Dunkin’.” 

This name change was not a spur-of the moment decision.Dunkin’ has been running this investigation for over a year, according to Business Insider . The first store to drop “Donuts” from the name was in Quincy, Massachusetts. Soon after, 30 other Boston area stores and 20 other nationwide also dropped the ‘Donuts’ title as well too. 

Unlike IHOP temporarily changing its name to IHOB, Dunkin’s name change is not as drastic. After all, the slogan is “America Runs on Dunkin.”

For junior marketing major Jessie O’Keefe, her mind immediately went to the business side of thinking when she heard  of the news.

“I wonder if it will give the customers a different idea of the identity of the brand,” O’Keefe said. “Will they be limiting their menu?”

O’Keefe is decidedly not a fan of the name change. 

“Everyone calls Dunkin’ Donuts “Dunkin’” anyway, so why change the name?” O’Keefe said. “It’s been around for so long, there was no need to change it.” 

Molly Doherty, a sophomore occupational therapy major, is a fan of the change. 

“The company is more universal now,” Doherty said. “Some people call it just Dunkin’ while others used to call it by the full name.” 

It would not be surprising if the next social media challenge was people dunking ‘Dunkin’s’ other products in their coffees, just to prove a point. bacon egg and cheeses, croissants, muffins, etc. Anything but a doughnut to prove a point. 

It will be interesting to see what other beloved companies will also hop on the bandwagon to recreate themselves with a name change. Who will be next?