Why IHOP Needs To Rethink Their Terrible New Branding Strategy

Jun 11, 2018

When you thought the year 2018 couldn’t get anymore bizarre, IHOP changes everything.

In case you missed it, IHOP, also known as the International House of Pancakes, teased fans of the breakfast chain with a mysterious name change. Instead of IHOP, they were IHOb. This threw people for a loop.

Today, they announced that they were pushing their burgers and becoming known for more than breakfast.

Dear Internet, we abbreciate your batience. Now let’s see who guessed right. B-hold!!!!! #IHOb pic.twitter.com/Fh3SkZ7s3Y

— IHOP (@IHOP) June 11, 2018

While I can appreciate that IHOP wanted to be trendy and engage fans and diners with a new advertising campaign, I think it falls on deaf ears.

In a time where Americans are becoming uneasy with sudden and shifting change, IHOP is a household name and iconic place to get a stack of pancakes. Of course, they offer more than pancakes, but their trademark is their pancakes.

What baffles me is why anyone would want to go there for hamburgers. I look at the change the same way I looked at Taylor Swift when she shifted from country to pop and people wanted to call her music country even after. Taylor Swift was a great young country singer with a bright future. Her management knew what they were doing. For whatever reason, she wanted to sell out and do pop music. That’s fine and dandy, but don’t force us to classify you as a country artist and compete for country awards when you’re not country.

With so many burger chains in America, especially fast casual burger restaurants, why does IHOP now feel the need to throw their name into the mix? I classify IHOP as a more commercial and industrial diner. When I think of a diner, I think of breakfast foods and a place you can get a good sandwich.

I don’t know if IHOP is having an identity crisis, if this is their version of a midlife crisis, or if they expect us to take them seriously. Continuously, have you ever eaten at an IHOP? Do you know how slow their service is? Why should I shell out my hard earned money for a burger that I can’t have in under 3 minutes?

Maybe I’m a snob, but I would never classify IHOP as a dining establishment to get a decent hamburger. The most puzzling part about IHOP attempting to shift their focus from breakfast to hamburgers and being a destination for all day dining, is why now?

I’m going to let my friend Wendy have the last say in the matter.