Ben Affleck’s Super Bowl Ad Echoes ’90s Sitcom but Looks Uncanny

Ben Affleck teamed with Dunkin' Donuts for a 60-second Super Bowl spot that reimagined Good Will Hunting as a ’90s sitcom. The throwback packed in television icons — Jason Alexander, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Ted Danson, Jasmine Guy, Jaleel White and Alfonso Ribeiro — complete with period texture and a laugh track.

Rather than feeling like a cozy nostalgia piece, many viewers found the actors' faces overly polished and almost expressionless. Some blamed de‑aging or AI-driven retouching; one angry viewer on X wrote, "Whoever did that Dunkin' Donuts commercial, needs to go back to the drawing board because the AI was so noticeable." The look wasn’t unique to Dunkin'.

Xfinity’s Jurassic Park‑referencing spot and other ads, including Amazon’s with Chris Hemsworth and Genspark’s with Matthew Broderick, also used airbrushing or de‑aging that left some viewers unsettled. By contrast, OpenAI and Google aired commercials that foregrounded everyday people and human stories rather than glossy effects.

ben affleck, dunkin donuts, super bowl, 90s sitcom, de-aging, ai retouching, airbrushing, jennifer aniston, jason alexander, nostalgia