‘IHOb’ Is Now Back To IHOP, Says Rebrand Was All Part Of Clever Marketing Stunt
The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) made headlines last month after it announced that it was changing its name to ‘IHOb’.
The odd move was part of its promotion for its latest product offering on the menu: the ‘Ultimate Steakburger’. If you didn’t already know, you can probably guess by now that ‘IHOb’ stands for International House of Burgers.
The name change garnered plenty of hilarious reactions from netizens, many of who thought the alteration was ridiculous. Fast food chains such as Burger King and Wendy’s jumped on the bandwagon as well to troll IHOP and its latest rebranding.
However, the name was not meant to be permanent and ‘IHOb’ has now returned to its original name, IHOP. The company took to Twitter to announce the reversion, saying, “We really abbreciate [sic] the burgerin’ loyalty, but we’re back @IHOP again.”
A Twitter user chimed in, “Lmao didn’t go well huh?” to which the brand responded, “The blan was to get beople [sic] talking about our new burgers. And it worked. Look at us, two silly pancakes talkin’ about burgers.”
Well, it looks like IHOP’s marketing stunt sure got people talking. According to YouGov BrandIndex’s data, the name change had caused IHOP’s “word of mouth” score to soar, Business Insider reported. The figure increased from 19% to 30% as a result of the name change.
IHOP is also having a promotion on its pancakes to celebrate the brand’s 60th birthday. “We’re giving away 60¢ short stacks on July 17 from 7a-7p for IHOP’s 60th birthday. That’s right, IHOP! We’d never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers),” it announced on Facebook.
We really abbreciate the burgerin’ loyalty, but we’re back @IHOP again.
— IHOb (@IHOB) July 9, 2018
Lmao didn’t go well huh?
— Anairam???? (@miramar997) July 9, 2018
The blan was to get beople talking about our new burgers. And it worked. Look at us, two silly pancakes talkin’ about burgers.
— IHOP (@IHOP) July 9, 2018
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v3.0’;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
IHOP | 60th Anniversary
We’re giving away 60¢ short stacks on July 17 from 7a-7p for IHOP’s 60th birthday. That’s right, IHOP! We’d never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers)
Posted by IHOP on Monday, July 9, 2018
We’re giving away 60¢ short stacks on July 17 from 7a-7p for IHOP’s 60th birthday. That’s right, IHOP! We’d never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers) pic.twitter.com/KsbkMJhKuf
— IHOP (@IHOP) July 9, 2018
[via TIME, opening image via IHOP]