In June, the beloved pancake palace known as IHOP changed its name to IHOB (International House of Burgers) and the internet lost its collective mind. Then on Monday, the chain made another big announcement about its name that made a lot of people mad — and made others really happy.
Let's just say there are a lot of emotions about internationally-themed restaurants now.
In a tweet, IHOP admitted its IHOB switcheroo was one big marketing ploy: "That's right, IHOP! We'd never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers)."
"We're giving away 60¢ short stacks on July 17 from 7a-7p for IHOP's 60th birthday," IHOP tweeted to fans as a peace offering.
Although the company is going to offer a big discount on food next week, not everyone is ready to forgive the pancake chain so easily.
IHOP lovers and haters are calling the marketing stunt "sneaky" and a "betrayal." Others are noting that they have "trust issues" with IHOP now.
One noted that the last thing on his mind after all this is burgers.
While some are truly upset at IHOP for the scam, others are just relieved that now "everything is right in the world." The hashtag #LongLiveiHop is even gaining steam.
Still, others are hoping that some good can come from the hoax. Perhaps, with a mashup of sorts, bringing IHOP and IHOB together to make peace with a pancake-wrapped burger.
In the end, some applauded the company for its marketing ingenuity since the stunt certainly got people talking.
Now, the world definitely knows about the chain's new burgers, but it remains to be seen if people will hold an everlasting grudge against IHOP's signature item.
Editor's note: In a statement that was sent to TODAY Food on July 10, 2018, in response to this story, Stephanie Peterson, executive director of communications for IHOP, said, "We're incredibly proud of the IHOb campaign that was created to announce our new Ultimate Steakburgers — it did exactly what we intended it to do, which was to get people talking about, and thinking differently about, IHOP. All along, we said IHOb was a fun, temporary name change to launch our new burgers. It was bold and effective. Burgers weren't a menu item associated with IHOP before, and now people know they can get a great, quality burger along with the pancakes they love."