Student Stars in Dunkin' Donuts Commercial

Meg Anchukaitis, a junior at Plymouth State University, recently starred in a Dunkin Donuts commercial filmed on the PSU campus. Anchukaitis said she was thrilled to have been given such an opportunity. "It was super fun. I got to see the 'behind-the-scenes' of how a commercial is made," said  Anchukaitis.

Dunkin Donuts launched a Twitter campaign asking people to tweet at their company about how their products influence customers' lives. The company wanted to show real life people in their commercials. Anchukaitis was chosen after tweeting that ice coffee from Dunkin Donuts is just what she needs to get through her weekly acapella rehearsals here at school. "They saw the acapella standpoint of it and thought it would be really cool because acapella is in right now. The movie Pitch Perfect just came out.and they thought it was a really cool angle for the arts. That's why they chose my tweet. They knew there was a story behind it," said Anchukaitis.

First, Anchukaitis received a direct message on Twitter from the company, and then received a phone call. She was skeptical at first, but later realized that the opportunity could be a great experience. "They called it a big project. They said they wanted to use real people's experiences with Dunkin Donuts to start their new campaign. Once I got to know a bit more about it, it really started to take off and become a real thing," Anchukaitis. 

Anchukaitis is an Acting major here at PSU and said that the commercial has the potential to open up a lot of doors for her in the world of show business and television. "That is my dream in life, to work and get my face out there and be an actor. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to me at this age," said Anchukaitis.

Not only did the commercial give Anchukaitis the experience and opportunity to be given more jobs like this in the future, but it also gave her a new insight to what kind of acting work she really wants to be doing. "The director said he saw a lot of potential in me...I came to school for on-stage theater, but I never really thought about TV. I think that could be a niche that I could fit in," Anchukaitis. 

She also had the unique opportunity to do the commercial with three of her friends from their on-campus acapella group, "Mixed Emotions." "It was super fun. It was such a weird experience it is hard to put into words, so to have a couple friends that were there and understood the process was really awesome. I was really grateful to have them there for the support," said Anchukaitis.

Social networking is what started the whole process for Anchukaitis, and social networking is what continues to be a huge part of her life every day because of it. 

"I probably have gotten 600 new followers in the past month, and I get random tweets from people I don't even know. A lot of them are encouraging, but then there are some that are just...not the nicest things. Twitter is the main reason that it happened, and people are really responding to it," saud Anchukaitis.

She recommends that everyone try to get these opportunities. "You never know where it's going to take you. I never thought I would be in a commercial from a tweet. If it doesn't work, at least you put yourself out there," said Anchukaitis. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Readers can find the commercial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YB8V9iV0qI