It's almost that time of year again. Halloween decorations go up, fall sweaters go on and pumpkin flavored treats make their way back to the Dunkin' Donuts menu. This year, the coffee company has pulled out all the stops and brought to you, by popular demand, the Dancing Pumpkin Man.
You may know him from viral videos and gifs sprinkled around the vast corners of the internet but now he's making his grand comeback in the most fitting way possible.
"Dancing Pumpkin Man, by definition, has to be excited about the arrival of fall and pumpkin-flavored anything," says Matt Geiler, the man behind the mask. "Plus, I'm a huge Dunkin' Donuts fan in real life, so I'm thrilled to help celebrate the return of all things pumpkin at Dunkin'."
Geiler's original video was born from a need to fill time during a newscast ten years ago, when he was the anchor of a local station in Omaha, Nebraska. "Since it was Halloween I thought I could kill a few minutes by putting that costume on and dancing around in front of a green screen," the musical improv comedian admits. And thus we were blessed with those hilarious and satisfying few minutes.
You may have seen Geiler suited up more recently as he auditioned for this season of America's Got Talent. The husband of sixteen years and father of two, whose stage name is Jack, steals the spotlight and charms the crowd as he dances his heart (and stem) away to "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell.
Simon Cowell wonders what the Pumpkin Man's goal is and the answer is quite simple: "The goal is to spread the joy through the dance and to ascend to a position at the front of the modern Avant garde." Beautifully said.
"Simes," a nickname Geiler comes up with for Cowell, is the least impressed and almost immediately hits the buzzer. But fellow judges Mel B and Heidi Klum sing and dance along, with the crowd giving Geiler a standing ovation.
We'll be dreaming about making leaf angels as we patiently await the Dancing Pumpkin Man's next appearance. The fan-favorite menu, which includes Pumpkin flavored coffee, lattes, muffins and the new Festive Fall Donut will be back at Dunkin' on Aug. 28.