IHOP enrages customers by announcing name change to 'IHOb'

Many fans of the restaurant can't believe the news

Sabrina Barr
Tuesday 12 June 2018 12:01 BST
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IHOP changes its name to IHOb: International House of Burgers

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Ever since the 1950s, IHOP (the International House of Pancakes) has been a household name across America thanks to its famous servings of fluffy pancakes.

However, the restaurant chain has recently caused quite a stir among its loyal customers.

Yesterday, the company revealed on Twitter that it would be changing its name from IHOP to “IHOb” to celebrate the launch of its new range of burgers.

As can be expected, many IHOP aficionados did not take the news at all lightly.

“This doesn’t feel real. Tell me it’s real. I don’t wanna believe it,” one person wrote.

Many people just wanted to be reassured that their beloved pancakes wouldn’t be removed from the menu.

“NOOO I LOVED IHOP WITH A P,” a Twitter user commented, before asking: “But you still gonna have pancakes right?”

The video that the newly dubbed “IHOb” has released on Twitter has received an abundance of attention, garnering 38,000 likes and 15,000 retweets.

The company has even gone so far as to change its handle on Twitter to reflect the name change.

While many fans of the breakfast restaurant brand may have felt utter despair over the prospect of the chain changing its name for good, they can rest assured that their precious IHOP will be making a return in due course.

As explained in an official press release, the decision to turn the “p” in the name upside down to become a “b” is only a temporary change, not a permanent one.

“To show the brand is as serious about burgers as it is about its world-famous pancakes, it’s flipped the ‘p’ to a ‘b’ in their iconic name for the time being, including its Twitter handle,” the statement reads.

Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for “IHOb” went into further detail explaining the decision to alter the name of the multinational brand.

“Everyone knows that IHOP makes world-famous pancakes so we felt like the best way to convince them that we are as serious about our new line of Ultimate Steakburgers as we are about our pancakes, was to change our name to IHOb,” he said.

“We’ve pancaked pancakes for 60 years now so it’s the perfect time to start burgerin’ burgers and we’re kicking it off by flipping the ‘p’ in IHOP to a ‘b’ for burgers.”

In January, IHOP celebrated its 60th anniversary by bringing back its “All you can eat” promotion.

Customers were given the opportunity to enjoy as many pancakes as they could muster for as little as $3.99 (£2.94).

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