Pancakes to burgers: IHOP suffers backlash in name change

Agence France-Presse

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj4kl5qH9PX/" data-instgrm-version="8" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:50.0% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj4kl5qH9PX/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by IHOP (@ihop)</a> on <time dateTime="2018-06-11T12:12:23+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Jun 11, 2018 at 5:12am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" defer="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>WASHINGTON -- After tantalizing fans for a week, IHOP, the ubiquitous blue-roofed American chain which promises pancakes 24 hours a day, said Monday it was changing its name to IHOb -- International House of Burgers -- in a ploy to expand its market image beyond breakfast.</p><p>The move sent pancake breakfast lovers into a furor and sparked snarky broadsides from rivals already deeply rooted in the hamburger business.<br/>&quot;The world is spiraling out of control and I can&#x27;t understand why IHOP would force us to deal with more unwelcome change,&quot; said one Twitter user.</p><p>&quot;Why is ihop going thru a mid life crisis,&quot; tweeted another.</p><p>The venerable chain, 60 years old this year, has long offered sandwiches and burgers across its nearly 1,800 locations.</p><p>But the name -- International House of Pancakes -- has always been rooted in their calorie-laden breakfast standards: pancakes, waffles and french toast, often smothered in syrup and whipped cream.</p><p>IHOP baited the public a week ago saying it was changing its last initial to &quot;b&quot; in a rebranding exercise.</p><p>With over 30,000 replies to their announcement on Twitter, guesses spanned from &quot;bacon&quot; to &quot;bananas,&quot; but the consensus seemed to be &quot;breakfast.&quot;</p><p>Revealing &quot;burgers&quot; on Monday, the company said it was a temporary change to celebrate the release of its new &quot;Ultimate Steakburgers&quot; menu category.</p><p>&quot;We are definitely going to be IHOP, but we want to convey that we are taking our burgers as seriously as our pancakes,&quot; Darren Rebelez, president of IHOP, told CNN.</p><p>&quot;Burgers are a quintessential, American menu item so it makes perfect sense that IHOP ... would go over the top to create a delicious line-up of quality burgers,” said Nevielle Panthaky, the chain&#x27;s culinary chief.</p><p>The move reaped taunts from well-established fast food chains.<br/>Whataburger tweeted: &quot;As much as we love our pancakes, we&#x27;d never change our name to Whatapancake.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Not really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard,&quot; tweeted Wendy&#x27;s, another popular burger restaurant.</p><p>Some dismayed fans just could not understand the need for it. &quot;@IHOb the b stands for blasphemy,&quot; tweeted one. </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m okay with the name change as long as you don&#x27;t forget your roots,&quot; said another.</p><p>DineEquity, the company that owns IHOP/IHOb and also the Applebee&#x27;s chain, sought to assure customers that nothing had really changed.</p><p>&quot;Don&#x27;t worry, Pancakers. We still love pancakes. We&#x27;re just expanding our burger horizons,&quot; it said.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong><br/> </div>

<p>IHOP baited the public a week ago saying it was changing its last initial to "b" in a rebranding exercise.</p>

IHOP baited the public a week ago saying it was changing its last initial to "b" in a rebranding exercise.

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Pancakes to burgers: IHOP suffers backlash in name change

Pancakes to burgers: IHOP suffers backlash in name change

Agence France-Presse

Published Jun 12, 2018 01:24 PM PHT

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