One of the most famous and most iconic restaurant chains in the United States is IHOP, or the International House of Pancakes. Based on the name alone, they are obviously known for having such amazing pancakes over the years, that is also accompanied by other breakfast choices. However, they have caught the attention of the public not because of a new product or a new endorser, but because of the announcement that they are changing their name.
IHOP decides to temporarily change their name to IHOB
Goodbye IHOP, Hello IHOB
It was in 1958 when the very first IHOP branch was opened and since then it has become one of America’s one of most favorite pancake restaurants. Last week, the International House of Pancakes announced that they will be making a huge change on their brand, and it turns out that they have decided to change their name from IHOP to IHOB, flipping the P into B.
People then started wondering what could the B stand for, some people speculated that it’s Breakfast since they are known for that. However, everyone was surprised when they revealed that the B stands for Burger. They officially changed the name last Monday, June 11, and everyone was definitely surprised.
According to reports, the huge change is to basically promote the launch of their new burger products such as the Ultimate Steakburgers, which is a seven-burger lineup that could give you a choice to include the Big Brunch, Cowboy BBQ Burger, and the double-decker Monster Burger.
Because they are still introducing this new burger menu to their customers, the people could actually get unlimited fries and drink for a limited offer with the starting price of $6.99. This is the main reason why they decided to make probably the biggest change in their company’s history. They changed everything from their Twitter username to their signage, just to be able to advertise their new burger products.
Can't wait to try a burger from the place that decided pancakes were too hard.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) June 11, 2018
The company admitted during a press conference that this wouldn’t, of course, be a permanent change, it is just part of their revamping strategy in order to bring more customers in and get people to talk about it. They definitely managed to make people talk about it, however, people on social media are not exactly talking about it in a good way.
According to the company’s CMO, Brad Haley, they know very well that IHOP basically makes the best pancakes in the world. For people to realize that they are serious about promoting their new burgers and that they are really good, they have decided to change their name for the time being. IHOP has been known for their pancakes for generations and they just want to innovate a new menu so they could keep up with the other fast food restaurants.
Our NEW burgers are so burgerin’ good, we changed our name to IHOb. For burgers. Go ahead, burger one today. #IHOb pic.twitter.com/lyciVZxAuH
— IHOb (@IHOb) June 11, 2018
Burger King, Wendy’s and The Entire Twitterverse React
It would seem that not everybody liked the decision of changing IHOP to IHOB, and most people are definitely pointing it out especially on social media. Some of the most notable accounts who bravely let out their thoughts on the IHOP changing its name News are none other than restaurants as well. Wendy’s is known to be the Queen of Roasts on Twitter because of how much it interacts with the people by roasting them or throwing shade at other restaurants.
People, of course, expected Wendy’s to reveal what kind of thoughts they have on IHOP changing their name, and they actually did. On the tweet, Wendy’s said that they are not afraid of the newest burgers especially if it’s coming from the restaurant that made it seem like pancakes were so difficult to make.
BURGER KING CHANGED THEIR TWITTER NAME TO PANCAKE KING LMAO THE SHADE pic.twitter.com/jdgq6svIDe
— tigsssssssss (@_tiger_s_) June 11, 2018
Burger King also joined the Twitter party by changing their name to Pancake King as some kind of a mock towards IHOP since they used the Burger in exchange for Pancake. They even changed their logo for it and used it as a profile picture for their account. Other food brands such as MoonPie, PopTarts, and Whataburger, also couldn’t help but join the fun by tweeting how they don’t exactly want to change their names just to promote a new product.
PopTarts even stated that IHOP is probably having some sort of identity crisis. Chili’s, who happened to just release a new burger as well, said that they don’t usually throw shade towards other restaurants and brands but they implied that it was a shallow move for a name change. Model and host Chrissy Teigen even posted a tweet that compared IHOB to a type of guy who would get a tattoo on his face, after going out with a girl once.