Loose lips sink ships and thanks to a (deleted) thread on Reddit by an employee, the big news about IHop’s new Black Angus Burgers was disseminated before the big 6.11.18 reveal of what the tease of IHob was all about, so minds were not nearly as blown.
A Forbes article published late Sunday night, devilishly cleverly titled, in part, “Because hotcakes aren’t selling like hotcakes” reflected on news of the brand’s deteriorating sales and lost grip on the flooded breakfast market.
For those whose initial prospecting that the b might be for breakfast, accompanied by a revised menu with more breakfast food options both sweet and savory, or items catering to specific dietary restrictions, the IHop to IHob reveal was a flop. Hey, they do make a decent quesadilla, much like Ram’s Horn, Denny’s or ABC Generic Diner Chain, but with their signature menu items being chock-full of Public Enemy Number One, otherwise known as sugar, and exorbitantly high in calories, the addition of Black Angus Burgers in a breakfast place may have been a stellar idea for alliteration fans, but seems to be meeting with confusion, disappointment and a touch of betrayal from the masses.
Nobody likes to feel duped or let down, and especially after so much hype and fun teasers with the p flipping to b across multiple channels. It not only let us down, it deceived us. Instead, we just sat through a full-length film only to have it end up all having been a dream, or some other similarly lazy plot device.
The measurable effects should be interesting and perhaps, if they play it right, enough people will trickle in to see what these big Black Angus Burgers are all about and IHob will have its renaissance. They did a good job of keeping any possible domain name changes under wraps but it hardly alleviates the disappointment of a campaign rife with so much excitement and promise. Such hubris, IHob.
But, the letdown for many was offset by the ensuing reactions from other brands and civilians alike on social media. If even bad press is good press, then this change is going to blow everyone away because the internet is exploding with hilarity, all at the expense of Ihob.
It’s hard to pick a favorite but Wendy’s set the tone of comedic savagery when they tweeted “Remember when you were like 7 and thought changing your name to Thunder BearSword would be super cool? Like that, but our cheeseburgers are still better.” Burger King said nothing but changed their icon to “Pancake King.” Even indirect competitors like Chili’s came out of the woodwork to post “We don’t usually throw shade, but seriously? That’s what all that was about? Here’s a real burger for you.” and paired it with a salivary gland inducing video about their burgers.
Between the general public and brands’ reactions, the internet is teeming with witty retorts. Who knows what that will mean for IHop’s bottom line. However, it does bring levity to the actual implications this could have for the brand. Only time will tell, but the June 26th opening of the world’s only co-branded Applebee’s/IHop in Detroit should soften the blows.
Courtney Hudson, eating this all up with a fork.
Thank you,this is very helpful.