Dunkin' Deception

The menu at Boston's favorite fast food donut and coffee shop has recently undergone a minor makeover lately with the addition of oven-toasted flatbread sandwiches, the expansion of value combos, and the availability of "side orders," namely hash browns (far more flavorful than what you get as breakfast potatoes at McDonald's, by the way).

Look closely at the menu board, however, and you'll now notice that beverages are listed in descending size order (i.e. x-large, large, medium, small), instead of the ascending order that the rest of the world uses. I have arrived at the conclusion that this arrangement is nothing more than a psychological ploy to get people to buy more expensive drinks on one of two theories:

1. Since people naturally read left to right, the first thing they will encounter is the most expensive size. Large beverages at D&D's are a bargain compared with other coffee shops, so people will make the impulse decision to get the large and not read further on the menu, since it's the same price as a small elsewhere.

2. People will see the price on the left of the menu board and assume it's the smallest size that D&D's offers. They won't be thrown off by the fact that it's called "large" because they're so used to Starbucks' "tall, grande, venti" nomenclature.

Once upon a time, businesses made money by selling their customers the right product for their individual needs. Nowadays, business make money by tricking their customers into buying the most expensive thing they can get away with.

(I'd actually forgive them for this sleight-of-hand if they would just dump Rachael Ray as a spokesperson.)