Festive opening of Dunkin Donuts hits snag with gimmick

The jubilant arrival of American donut chain Dunkin Donuts hit a snag today when too many people lined up for a grand opening give-away. It proved to be a big red flag when it comes to those darn coronavirus measures.

Belgium’s first Dunkin Donuts outlet opened this morning at 7.00 on De Keyserlei in Antwerp, a few steps from Central Station. The famous American chain sells dozens of kinds of donuts, including in heart shapes, swathed in marshmallows or in pink and blue colours so bright they don’t look edible.

The blessed event ended up making a lot of people angry, however, because an opening-day gimmick didn’t work out as planned. The new outlet advertised that the first 100 people in line this morning would get a box of free donuts every week for a year.

Obviously underestimating the people of Antwerp, the chain appeared surprised when people began lining up yesterday, planning to camp out for the night. When the police showed up to chastise the brand new Dunkin staff, they just awarded the first 100 people in line the free donuts and sent everyone away.

So you can imagine how annoyed were the people who showed up this morning, expecting to be first in line. “I was here at 6.00 this morning only to hear that the first 100 were already registered,” one girl told VRT. “But that’s nowhere to find online, and I find that a scandal.”

Another young man noted that “the regulations state that the registration form is no longer valid if you leave the line. But apparently that doesn’t count during corona measures, which is bullshit.”

Photo courtesy Dunkin Donuts