How Much Dunkin' Would A Duck Named Munchkin Drink If A Duck Named Munchkin Could Drink Dunkin'?
A four-year-old duck named Munchkin is making waves with her Dunkin' habit.
A person's Dunkin' order is as sacred to their identity as, say, their favorite color. I know my boyfriend's order (medium iced one-and-one), my mom's order (medium hot two-and-two), and my sister's order (large caramel iced coffee with almond milk), and even if we haven't talked in a while, I can rest easy knowing their Dunkin' orders remain unchanged. Now, I'm adding another order to my mental Rolodex: a medium water, extra ice, in a plastic cup—for a four-year-old duck named Munchkin.
The Boston Globe reports that Munchkin has gained duck influencer status on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube after showing a preference for drinking Dunkin' water. Munchkin's owner, Krissy Ellis, frequently posts videos of Munchkin clicking her beak and sipping water in a series of what the Globe calls "short and soothing clips."
Munchkin's Dunkin' habit makes sense; she's actually named for Dunkin's signature doughnut holes. But Ellis didn't discover Munchkin's preference for Dunkin' water until a trip to the Dunkin' drive-thru in 2018. "I thought it was hysterical how crazy she went over this Dunkin' ice water I ordered her," Ellis told the Globe. "She had never gone crazy for water at home like that, so I started filming it."
Munchkin reportedly racked up 40 million views in one week after that first video was posted. Now, Ellis has around 2.7 million followers on TikTok, where she shares videos of Munchkin and her duck siblings under the handle @dunkin.ducks. "I think a lot of people like it because it's something that's happy on the Internet," Ellis told the Globe. "Just watching a duck drinking water is very calming." Personally, I'm drawn to the TikTok because I like seeing ducks wearing little harnesses. If you ask me, the Dunkin' is cute, but the harnesses are the real moneymaker.