The important question here is: Does IHOB mean we get a burger with pancakes as a bun? The pancake chain formerly known as International House of Pancakes is now calling themselves International House of Burgers, at least for a few weeks.
It's a marketing campaign that started a week ago when the breakfast chain announced the name change on social media, saying that they were switching things up and flipping the "p" for pancakes to a "b." Speculation was hot for a week among Twitter users on exactly what the "b" would stand for.
For 60 pancakin' years, we've been IHOP. Now, we're flippin' our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb pic.twitter.com/evSxKV3QmT
— IHOb (@IHOb) June 4, 2018
Lots of people guessed International House of Breakfast. Quite a few hoped that the restaurant chain would capitalize on the bacon madness of the past few years and become the International House of Bacon (which would be pretty awesome, we have to admit). A very few others were hoping for the International House of Brunch, which, no, people. Moving from breakfast, served all day no less, to brunch would have been a step down.
This morning the chain said: "We're flippin' from pancakes, pancakes, pancakes to burgers, burgers, burgers."
The goal of the promotion is to highlight their new burgers and attract a bigger lunch and dinner crowd.
They've committed to the flip, sort of. The @ihop Twitter account asks you not to follow it (and they've erased all their tweets, too) and has moved everything over to their new Twitter handle @ihob. (Note: apparently Instagram and Facebook weren't as accommodating, since the chain's handle on both sites is still ihop).
The Hollywood location of the restaurant also changed their sign to the new IHOB logo, but so far that's the only one.
CNNMoney talked with Darren Rebelez, president of IHOP, Monday morning. Rebelez noted that most of the chain's almost 1800 locations will stay "IHOP."
"We are definitely going to be IHOP," Rebelez said. "But we want to convey that we are taking our burgers as seriously as our pancakes."
Some are hoping that the American breakfast chain takes a cue from its fast food cousins and creates some crazy food mashups. If Taco Bell can have a Waffle Taco, surely the new IHOB can give us pancake burger buns, right? So far, that's a no go, according to Rebelez. But between the new burgers and the traditional pancakes, you can always make your own, right?
