It's safe to say that everyone was a bit confused when IHOP announced it was going by a new name, to reflect a more meatier focus. IHOb (International House of Burgers, for those of you who missed it), was a temporary switch, in honor of the pancake joint's new Angus Beef Steak burgers.
Despite being trolled by other fast food spots, (you're a good sport, IHOP!) it seems that the pancake masters will have the last laugh on this one. The restaurant quadrupled the number of burgers sold during the fiscal quarter that IHOP was IHOb, per Extra Crispy.
Extra Crispy reports that the booming burger business was due in large part to publicity on the name change — 20,000 news articles were written about the announcement, resulting in 36 billion social media impressions.
Per Business Insider, the increase in burger sales contributed to a "significant lift in lunch and dinner sales." IHOP president Darren Rebelez told Business Insider, "Literally everybody in the world now knows that IHOP is now selling burgers. That was goal NO.1. Goal No. 2 was to actually sell them." Mission accomplished, Darren.
Good news for pancake and burger fans alike: IHOP will continue selling both. The restaurant will market itself as "a breakfast-centric chain" (insert sigh of relief here). Darren told Business Insider, though, that burger sales have continued.
Since IHOP has recently graced us with delivery, you can indulge on banana pancakes (like me), or a steakburger from your couch. Well done, IHOP.
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