Food Theory: The Secret Dunkin Donuts DOESN’T Want You To Find Out!

Special thanks to Skillshare for sponsoring this episode!

Have you ever been walking through the mall and smelled that delicious, iconic sent of Cinnabon? Have you passed by a Panera and SWEAR you could smell the bread from outside? Maybe you've been on a bus and suddenly got a craving for some Dunkin Donuts? All of those things happened on PURPOSE! You see, companies are operating just inside the law to get you STARVING for their food... some may even say they've tip-toed outside the lines of the law. Well Theorists, get your detective hats ready. We are going to figure out if these companies are BREAKING the LAW!


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Credits:
Writers: Matthew Patrick, Justin Kuiper, and Luke Barats
Editors: Pedro Freitas and Danial "BanditRants" Keristoufi
Assistant Editor: Caitie Turner (viridianrosette)
Sound Editor: Yosi Berman

#DunkinDonuts #Dunkin #Panera #PaneraBread #Cinnabon #Smell #Marketing #FoodTheory #MatPat #GameTheory #FilmTheory

[kenzihenderson]

Disney parks has been at this for YEARS. Although they do the typical scent stuff like making it smell like cookies outside their bakery to get you in the snacking mood, they go well beyond that. Every major area of the park has its own scent, several major rides have distinct scents to make the experience more memorable, the major disney resorts have their own scents (in my personal experience the polynesian scent is like aromatherapy, like you just feel a wave of relaxation hit you every time you walk in the lobby)

[ddmorgan]

Fun fact: there's a possibility that you'll never smell fresh donuts baking in a Dunkin. They usually rely on the overnight baker and for my local store, they'll only day bake if someone already in the store can do it, and if its still like ... 6AM and they're out of glazed donuts.

[CZsWorld]

One time I was walking down the street and caught this massive whiff of Panda Express (which was probably 200 ft behind me). It was strong enough that me AND THE GUY WALKING IN FRONT OF ME both TURNED AROUND and went back to the Panda Express.

[natem]

I work at Dunkin and they treat me terribly so I’m not scared to say that all of the donuts are shipped from a different factory/location. We get the donuts shipped to us every morning so we don’t actually make the donuts. We do cook the muffins in the location though

[mimikyurepaints]

Fun fact! A lot of the “fake smells” are still organic from a chemistry standpoint! They’re called esters and are a mix of to different carbohydrates, one that’s an alcohol and one with a carboxyl group! We did a lab on it back in grade 12 and it’s so fun bc the smell of the butyric acid wafted through the whole science wing, but in the chem lab it smelled like flowers and oranges and bubblegum

[mamapeacefully]

I used to work in the "food avenue" section of Target, where they had me make popcorn every 30 minutes whether it was selling or not. They told us it was because popcorn was super cheap in waste, but the smell made the customers hungrier when they were grocery shopping. Our store did a lot of grocery sales, so we made tons of popcorn.
And yes, Food Avenue was at the front of the store.

[alexandertilson]

So I’ve worked at Panera bread recently, and I can tell you the bakers work the night shift so they can actually make the bread in a timely manner. The bread that you smell throughout the day is that same bread just reheated when they need it.

[cpmario]

Just used this video as a source for my Philosophy class discussion about how Descartes believed you couldn't trust your senses because they can lie to you. Let it be known that MatPat and the team's hard work is the subject of college-level discussions about ethics and finding the truths of the world. Thanks guys!!

[hotdogpopsicle]

I can relate to this with Auntie Anne's pretzel, those things smells heavenly

[bennettam.]

Mom: Honey, why are you plugging your nose? We’re on a bus.
Me: Matpat has educated me.

[lenozzie]

As a Panera employee, I can confirm the ovens are still used and then we also have an oven with the vents on the outside and when we start baking, the place gets warm and smells good 🙂 but the kitchen is under the vents so it spreads more through the place.

[elizabethgemmill]

When he mentioned Cinnabon does the smell tactic, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE MEANS!! literally the moments you past by it, the smell is so distinct and AMAZING, your brain instantly wants one.

[Hjhugj]

At Jimmy Johns, employees are encouraged to yell “FREE SMELLS!” when pulling bread out of the oven.

[dorkk]

My mom worked as a candy girl in Disneyland back in the early 1980’s. She told me about the smells being wafted from behind the bushes in from of the shop to bring people in from Main Street. As a kid I found that fascinating!

[TheAdvertisement]

I think it's fine to waft out smells if it's from what you're actually making, even if a bit heightened.
However, it becomes disingenuous once you start using smells that aren't from your product. It's similar to using CGI in a food commercial, something which is explicitly against the law. You're presenting and something that isn't your product as what you're trying to sell.

[zinosword]

11:29 "Wait a minute that is 20 MatPat's over the legal limit" a yes the imperial system

[MechancalMagcan]

Theory Idea: Why does everything "taste like chicken?" as a default when we don't know what it is/where it came from?

Edit: He made a video on it and I have now seen it! Very cool Matthew Patthew

[NismoakaNismovsky]

From my knowledge, Disney does the same trick in their amusement parks, where they pump the aroma from food places onto the alleys so they can attract more customers.
Great episode (as always), Mat! Greetings from Poland!

[nekoprankster]

You know, I do have a question to add to this. So with covid causing us to mask up when outside, I noticed a benefit recently where the mask can either hinder or eliminate smells (benefit to me because I can be sensitive to them). I mainly noticed this when someone who didn't wear a mask as often mentioned how some people we both interacted with that day clearly smelled alcoholic, while I never caught any scent. From there I did start noticing how face masks seemed to block scents (although not always getting rid of them 100%).

So, with how long customers had to comply with mask mandates when entering businesses, could we find a decline in the aroma method's effectiveness in areas that required face masks?

[audge-audge]

2:07 About 0 times Matpat.

0 times...

_Cries in congential anosmia (the inability to smell)_