popular thinking

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tells anyone and everyone how much he loves Dunkin Donuts. No surprise, then, that the company approached him years ago to see if he’d like a donut named for him. He passed at the time. Well. Let him explain it, since The Rock was in Boston yesterday to promote his upcoming film, Gridiron Gang (which is quite good, so go see it Sept. 15).

Who wants a free dozen Rock Donuts?

This is how "The Rock" explained it to me yesterday. “Yeah, they approached me,” he said. “They said. Executives called, ‘What do you think if we made a Rock donut. Would you be interested in that?’” He then paused for more than a moment.

Well?
The Rock: “Well, I thought that oh, might be a pretty fun, cool idea. But then my mind immediately goes into toilet humor. And I start thinking about, what kind of donut would it be? What kind of cream filling would it be? What will we call the donut? There’s many ways you can go with that. And then I thought, nah. It’s just safer. Plus, its kind of weird if I just roll up and say, ‘Hey give me a dozen Rocks, cream-filled, right up there please?'”

So are you saying you don’t want me to try to set something up. Make some calls?
The Rock: “Nah. That’s fine. I’ll still love Dunkin Donuts.”

What do you order at Dunkin Donuts, for a completely trivial question?
The Rock: “Well, let me think. It all depends on the mood. It’s like sometimes you feel like vanilla, sometimes you feel like chocolate. You go in there, and I live down in Davie, Fla., a little country town, so there’s just like here, there’s a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. As a matter of fact, the owner, the guy who started Dunkin Donuts, signed his book to me. Just thought I’d give you some more (expletive) you can’t use.”

Oh, it’s all going in the paper tomorrow. What are you talking about?
The Rock: “Cause I think the first Dunkin Donuts was started up here, wasn’t it?”

Oh, yeah. We’re going to start a campaign. A public campagin through the media to get you the Rock Donut.
The Rock: “The Rock Donut! Let’s do it, man! (claps) Let’s do it. Wouldn’t it be cool? What kind of donut would it be? What do you think it would be? What kind of donut would it be, if you’re like, hey give me one of those Rocks!"

I don’t want to speak for you.
The Rock: "What do you think?"

Hmm. Its got to have some oomph to it.
The Rock: "It’s got to have some oomph, right, yeah. its just not one of them little round donuts, either. I don’t see that. Like the size of almost one of them cinnamon twists. You know those. It’s gotta be one of those. It’s gotta have some oomph. Gotta have some flavor. Gotta have some substance.”

Some kind of filling...
The Rock: "It’s got to have some kind of filling! (laughing) What do you think, as a chick? (he calls over to his publicist) You want one of them Rock Donuts, and then you do all that metaphorical stuff you can think about."
The Rock's publicist: "Well, it’d be like The Rock, like hard on the outside, soft (laughs) on the inside."
The Rock: "See. that’s why she’s my publicist. I like that. Rock, I love it! Hard on the outside, soft on the inside -- with a lot of filling.
Publicist: "A lot of stuff inside."
The Rock: "A lot of stuff. That’s great. They’re going to approach me again. This is going to be cool. I guarantee.”

You can read excerpts of my chat with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in today's Inside Track column of the Boston Herald. The rest of the interview is forthcoming.

Two things to ponder in the meantime:
1) Do you think it'd be a good idea for Dunkin Donuts to start creating/naming sugary treats for celebrities, and if so, would The Rock be your first choice?
2) What would your Rock Donut be?

Going with the hard on the outside, soft on the inside premise suggested above, I'd start with a base similar to the Boston Kreme Donut. Maybe dip the whole thing again in some sort of chocolately-sugary mix. Sprinkles on top? Then you'd have to cool it down, somehow, to achieve more of a hard, rocky texture. At least that's my first instinct on it. What's yours?

Tell me what you think.

And then watch this Dunkin Donuts commercial, which would be modified to include "The Rock" and his favorite sporting activity!