IHOP faked its name change to IHOb to promote its burgers

Pancake chain IHOP confirmed that the company faked its recent name change as a stunt to promote its burgers, the company tweeted on Monday. The return to its true name comes as the pancake chain celebrates its 60th birthday.

“We’d never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers),” the company’s tweet said.

International House of Pancakes, popularly known by the acronym IHOP, seemingly rebranded itself last month to IHOb, or International House of Burgers. The name change came as the company introduced a line of black Angus burgers, though it has had burgers on the menu for some time.

The initial announcement last month drew a combination of criticism, confusion and ridicule in the Twittersphere.

“International House of Betrayal,” one commenter said.

Even competitors piled on their commentary.

“Not really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard,” the Twitter account of the burger chain Wendy’s said.

Plenty of people on Twitter figured out early on that the name change was a stunt, and the company confirmed to the Associated Press after the name change announcement that it was a “tongue-in-cheek” promotion for their summer burger menu.