Consumer brands often take a turn for the boring under private equity ownership. Apparently, no one at Dunkin’ HQ got the memo. Coolatta-powered marketers dreamed up what they call the “DunKings Cinematic Universe,” maybe Boston’s answer to the Marvel movies. Ben Affleck is Iron Man in another DunKings ad released around Super Bowl time; his Avengers include brother Casey (natch), Bill Belichick with Jordon Hudson, Jeremy Strong (in a vat of coffee beans), and a Wahlberg (Donnie). Who’s next? Maybe Chris Evans joins them for a DCU-Marvel crossover.
Still crazy after all these years
The offshore wind industry had nothing to smile about this year, with Donald Trump in the White House, except for one thing: a quote in a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling, siding with a wind farm developer over a Cape Cod neighbor. The decision, authored by Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt, quotes Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” by starting off with the lines “And no one dared/Disturb the sound of silence” — a reference to the legal controversy around “cacophonous industrial components” in a Barnstable substation. The SJC even credits the folk-rock duo in a footnote, noting the album (“Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.”), record company (Columbia), and release year (1964). More rock trivia, less legal minutia, please.
The Downtown Boston Alliance keeps getting creative to attract crowds post-pandemic, particularly in the colder months. In 2024, it was floating clown heads. This past year: floating naked pink people, and an illegally parked Nissan Altima with its hood crushed by what looks like a 1960s-era satellite that fell out of the sky. There was much online chatter about whether the parking ticket on the windshield was real, and even more after someone ripped the 150-pound satellite off the car, only to discover it too heavy to steal.
Defense company Anduril Industries deployed a strange marketing strategy, blanketing South Station and too many buses to count with billboards proclaiming “Don’t Work at Anduril” (with the “Don’t Work at,” or at least the “Don’t,” made to look like it was spray-painted over the company’s name). There was even a spoof video featuring a disgruntled worker complaining that “here they have you doing actual work.” The intended message: Anduril isn’t for everyone, but please send your resume.
Investment guru Jim Pallotta is known for his previous ownership stakes in the Celtics and the AS Roma soccer team. But in 2025, he was selling something else: a 21,000-square-foot mansion nestled in the Weston woods. The spread, featured in the Wall Street Journal, includes the obligatory swimming pool, outdoor basketball court, and indoor listening room, along with a storage room for his wife’s collection of antique Santas. (The Journal story implied that the figurines were not included in the $38 million list price.)
Were those people on the bridge over the Mass. Turnpike dressed like poop emojis? Yup. The banner they held said “Cut the Crap,” after all. The Charles River Watershed Association deployed these costumed crusaders to pressure the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to halt the practice of allowing rainwater to mix with sewage in local rivers. (The poop outfits also showed up at a State House hearing on the topic.) As far as the environment is concerned, sometimes you need to give a crap.
Traffic’s bad, but not that bad
Yeah, I hate Southeast Expressway traffic as much as the next commuter. But still. Who thought it was a good idea to start flights between Boston and New Bedford, especially after the South Coast city just started getting commuter rail service to Boston? Cape Air launched the flights in September, and ended them less than two months later. Sure, the trip, gate-to-gate, was only around 35 minutes. But the only thing worse than sitting in your car on I-93 in Dorchester might be standing in Logan, waiting to get through security.
Is the recession finally here? It is if you take CNN at its word that knee-high sneakers from Boston-based Converse are “possibly the most obvious recession indicator of them all.” CNN linked to a TikTok video showing these too-tall shoes in a shop window, with the caption: “this has gotta be a recession indicator.” One commenter wrote: “If I’m paying for a shoe, I’m getting as much shoe as possible.” The CNN report also mentioned the return of canned goods, coupons, and Lady Gaga. With those indicators in mind, CNN somehow missed the latest release of Kowloon-themed sneakers, designed by Tagz Footwear, and what they say about the state of things.
The hoopla leading up to the supposed launch of a Boston Monopoly game may have exceeded the hype for Monopoly owner Hasbro’s decision to move its headquarters to Boston. But manufacturer Top Trumps USA still doesn’t list a Boston game among its 47 city-themed Monopoly editions. No word on why. For now, we’ll have to be content with the 1990s Boston edition (available on eBay), created when BayBank and Filene’s were still around. Strangely, there’s no space for Dunkin’ Donuts, Boston’s closest thing to an actual monopoly.
The Trump-era tariffs made life tough for those in the logistics and shipping industry. Good thing we have drug companies like Takeda around to lighten the mood. Takeda announced plans to be the first biopharmaceutical business to use French boat maker Vela Transport’s wind-powered cargo vessel to ship treatments from Europe to the United States. The trips will take two weeks and help Takeda meet its greenhouse gas emissions goals. Test runs start next year on trimarans that look like racing boats but are in fact something else entirely.
Hasbro wasn’t the only company on the move. Welch’s inked a deal to relocate to Waltham from Concord. The fruit-juice cooperative also set its sights on Manhattan by opening a speakeasy in the West Village to highlight its zero-sugar drinks, with ad agency Superdigital. The space was fitted out to look like a New York City bodega, complete with an analog TV on the counter and an animatronic “bodega cat.” This was purely promotional: The pop-up shop “sold” Zero Sugar-themed lip balm and lunchboxes for zero dollars apiece.
Fall in New England means pumpkins, football, foliage, more pumpkins, hayrides, apple-picking, and now “Spidey D.” Just when you thought it was safe to venture into your local Dunks, the ads reappeared on menu boards and social media accounts featuring the spider doughnut character with random misspelled musings. The ad industry swooned over this “unruly spokes-dessert,” and the purple doughnut sold out at many shops. Next year, let’s see if Dunkin’ can get Ben Affleck in the room with this absurd arachnid.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
