By Staff Writer Ben Pfeffer. Dunkin’ Donuts has officially changed its name to just Dunkin’. This brand change has been talked about for over a year now and had not been implemented until recently. Dunkin’ has finally gone through with the idea. Stores are slowly being rebranded all across the world. They are changing from the classic “Dunkin’ Donuts” to simply “Dunkin’” in an attempt to appeal to younger audiences and stay relevant for the future generation. The stores are being changed inside as well, but very minimally. This seemingly pointless business maneuver has only upset some fans while others seem to not care about it. Those that don’t care have always called it Dunkin’ or a similar nickname. Dunkin’ has gotten a good amount positive comments about this brand shift on Twitter and Instagram. The positive comments talk about how they don’t care about the name change and just like to see Dunkin’ changing it up in general. A noticeable number of fans praise Dunkin’ specifically for the name change because they like to be on a ‘first name basis’ with Dunkin’. The rest of the Dunkin’ Donuts fans hate this name change. There are a few things people are upset about. One of the big ones is just the fans not thinking: they think that since the word ‘Donuts’ is being taken out of the title, there will no longer be doughnuts available at the store. Another, perfectly reasonable, reason why fans of Dunkin’ Donuts hate this name change is simply because of nostalgia. They dislike the rebranding of an American classic. Upset fans are comparing this brand change to the temporary IHOP to IHOB name change in the beginning of the summer of 2018. However, this name change is nothing like the IHOP name change. Back in June to July of 2018, IHOP changed their name to IHOB to introduce their new burger menu. A few weeks later they changed their name back to IHOP. Dunkin’ Donuts’ name change to Dunkin’ is not to introduce anything, it just took a word away from the name because it thinks, since everybody calls it Dunkin’, that the word Donuts does not matter. This is most likely a permanent name change… or is at least planning to be. Along with a name and brand change came a change inside the store. In the new Dunkin’ stores there is a new machine. The machine is a tap system for cold drinks, a “cold beverage tap system.” It serves out cold beverages and looks like a modern version of a standard beverage dispenser that you see in stores. The tap system can dispense many cold drinks including nitro cold brew, cold brew, original-blend coffee, dark-roast coffee, decaf, green tea, and iced tea, according to business insider. This specific change to the inside of Dunkin’ is a smart move to stay more modern since they’re trying to stay relevant for the future generation. This brand change will likely cause an original downwards trend in visitors, but eventually shoot back up when people take time to think about it. The downwards trend will be for a few weeks, if that. Then as soon as people realize that the name change meant nothing and that they cannot live without their Dunkin’, they will all go back there, get used to the new name, and continue to be happy with Dunkin’. PHOTO COURTESY: DUNKIN’