Finals have college students craving caffeine even more than usual, so I thought this would be an appropriate time to drag up the never-ending Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts debate. Susquehanna University recently switched from Pepsi products to Coca Cola, however, I’ve heard from reliable sources with SGA connections that the Starbucks (which is owned by Pepsi) will not be replaced by Dunkin Donuts (Coca Cola-owned). Here are 6 reasons why Dunkin Donuts is superior and should replace the Starbucks in Deg.
More Bang For Your Buck
Starbucks is notoriously bougie, with a single cup of coffee easily costing upwards of $5. Dunkin has a consistently cheaper menu. If you’re the kind of student who blows through their Flex two months into the semester, having Dunkin would increase your chances of budgeting coffee all year round, with maybe even some Flex to spare.
Better Breakfast Options
You will never catch me going out of my way to pay $3 for a single bakery item at Starbucks for breakfast. Breakfast is practically a myth on college campuses. Most of us are on 14 meals/week dining plans, and those 2 meals a day are almost always reserved for lunch and dinner. If we had a Dunkin, their affordable bagels, muffins, donuts, and other breakfast options would be dangerously tempting. College students regularly eating breakfast? What a concept.
Quality vs Status
I don’t know about you, but I’d strongly prefer buying mocha iced coffees from Dunkin, as many days a week I want, over rationing my flex to pay inflated prices for an espresso beverage that comes in a white cup. Starbucks’ reusable cups are undeniably cute, and their fraps are more insta-worthy than Dunkin’s coolattas could ever dream of being. However, if your that worried about using your coffee as an accessory, I’m positive no one would know the difference if you asked to use your Starbucks thermos for your daily Dunkin order.
Easier Access to Refreshments
It’s a pain to drive all the way down the strip to pick up a Box of Joe and a few boxes of donuts for club events. Imagine a world where you could pick up cartons of munchkins without ever having to leave campus the next time your organization tables in lower Deg. No tea no shade, but Starbucks probably doesn’t even keep enough bakery items in stock to fill a single order for a dozen anything.
Deals & Donuts
Starbucks’ only version of a sale is buy one get one fraps. But realistically…what am I going to do with two fraps? I’m not generous enough to give one to a friend, so that means I gotta double fist them so one doesn’t get all melty by the time I finish the first. That means both of my hands are gonna get cold, and there is an exponentially higher risk of brain freeze. Dunkin, on the other hand, sends out monthly coupons for both their food and drinks. This April, Dunkin even had a month-long $2 any size iced coffee promotion. As college students, we’re all sluts for a good sale, and you can’t deny that’s a pretty bangin’ bargain.
Variety
Starbucks has fancier coffee options, but Dunkin has 70 different types of donuts, 5 bagel flavors, 4 kinds of muffins, 12 breakfast sandwich/wrap options, plus hashbrowns, croissants, and even oatmeal. Those numbers speak for themselves.
If anyone knows how to find out when our contract with Starbucks is up, let me know so I can start a petition for a Dunkin Donuts on campus. Then all I need to do is convince Dunkin to reinstate their Oreo iced coffee and all my caffeine-related dreams will have come true. Until these changes are possible, we can at least pick up pre-made Dunkin Donuts iced coffees from the Hawk’s Nest.