Get ready, everyone because late night meals and 24-hour breakfast may never be the same. IHOP, the beloved International House of Pancakes, announced that they would no longer be named for their fluffy stacks. Instead, they'll now be known as, drum roll please... IHOb. But what does the mysteriously lower-cased "b" stand for? They aren't saying, not right now at least. They sent a tweet with a pretty cryptic message on June 4 that said, "For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb." Of course, pancake fans — by which I mean everybody — flipped (no pun intended). And these tweets about IHOP's name change have some amazing theories about what the new name might mean.
Fans quickly started filling the comments with their guesses about what the new letter means, with so many "b" puns. At one point, IHOP responded to someone named Patrick's request to "Stop b-ing elusive and tell me what the answer b!" by saying, "batience, Batrick, batience!" Although, the best word-play response may go to the pizza company DiGiorno, which replied saying, "It's not P. It's b."
But, puns aside, I have to admit I'm fairly intrigued. Sure, I'm curious why the company is changing its name, but more than anything, some of the tweets are truly hilarious. What's better than pancakes, you ask? Pancake jokes!
Or, at least that's what a lot of Twitter users seem to think. Lots of people have chimed in saying that "breakfast" is the obvious answer. It would make sense considering the restaurant chain is well-known largely for its breakfast, but they also serve so much more. Don't get me wrong. I love breakfast. I wish every day was like that Portlandia breakfast skit when they spend the entire day preparing for the next day's morning meal, but I'm just not convinced that's it. It seems a little too obvious to me.
At any rate, when someone suggested my favorite meal of the day might be the answer, IHOP responded, "You'll just have to wait and see what it could b!" That doesn't give us much to go on, though, because that's basically the response they've been giving to most guesses.
One of the guessers made a good point about marketing and female representation in a tweet that's both funny and spot on. She said:
Spoiler alert: It's gonna be "Breakfast." Also, the only thing I can think of with that "ob" at the end of the logo... (This is why more women need to be on advertising review boards!)#IHOb
Now, I'm never going to not see the tampon brand.
I mean, there are plenty of options for a breakfast food-themed "b." Whether it's really a guess or just wishful thinking, many have speculated the "b" stands for greasy, salty bacon. Some have even teased that they'd take their business elsewhere if that's not what the new name is, like one person who tweeted, "IHOP to IHOb? Huh? The "b" better be for bacon or I'm out!" I mean, fair.
Some people even combined the idea with the IHOP classic to hope for bacon-flavored pancakes. It's creative, and admittedly sounds delicious, even if that's probably not it.
But for others, changing the name to International House of Bacon would be a dealbreaker.
One user said outright that they'd be would not eat there anymore, if the name is changed to International House of Bacon, writing, "@IHOP if you change your name to international house of bacon, i will have no choice but to stop coming to ihob. #vegeterian."
At first, I was skeptical. But the way IHOP responded made me give it another look.
First, one person tweeted, "Should make the P a pancake a flip it. Duh." Then, later in the day, someone else put in the same guess, "It's because the pancakes are flipped." Maybe that's why it's lower-cased! IHOP replied to Rich saying, "hmm you might be onto something." That would make sense considering IHOP itself said it was "flippin'" the name in the announcement.
Could that really be the answer? If it is, then maybe the name change won't be that drastic after all. But, hey, drastic or no, we know it'll be delicious. IHOP may be changing their name, but we all know that pancakes are forever.
