IHOP's IHOb makeover isn't going away anytime soon
The IHOP burger invasion will linger.
We all made it through a traumatic week of contemplating a world where the International House of Pancakes has become the International House of Burgers.
As we stand in the wreckage of a post-IHOPalytic Twitter wasteland, the question we all want to know is "How long will this last?"
We knew the IHOP-to-IHOb switch would be temporary, and a Friday tweet from the @IHOb account may have teased you into thinking the end was in sight. It's not.
Well that was a crazy week. pic.twitter.com/5XvIErpSoH
— IHOb (@IHOb) June 15, 2018
IHOb posted a cute little animated video reading "Thanks for playing along," but the "p" switches over to a "b." The tweet reads, "Well that was a crazy week."
"We have from the beginning said IHOb was fun, a tongue in cheek way to launch our new burgers. It was not a permanent change to the actual IHOP name," IHOP spokeswoman Stephanie Peterson told CNET, adding that the chain famous for its breakfast menu would continue to use "touches of IHOb" throughout the summer to promote its burgers.
IHOP's commitment to the marketing move really showed on Twitter, where it abandoned its @IHOP handle and instead adopted @IHOb. Peterson says the restaurant will move back to its original Twitter account at some point, but the timing hasn't been determined yet.
IHOP's viral name-change publicity stunt hit a Twitter nerve that was wacky, weird, occasionally fretful and always highly entertaining. IHOP/IHOb weathered super-snarky commentary from restaurant rivals Wendy's, Waffle House, Denny's and many others. Some fans joined in the fun, others freaked out.
IHOP knows it has a good thing going here after riding the Twitter trending wave, so it's no surprise it won't be dropping the new moniker like a hot pancake.
