After more than 60 years as the International House of Pancakes - branded as IHOP since 1973 - the restaurant chain said it is flipping its name next week.
This b is an A+ #IHOb pic.twitter.com/QI5rg1sJSP
— IHOP (@IHOP) June 6, 2018
The IHOP label is turning around its "p" for pancakes into "b" for what the company plans to unveil Monday. IHOP tweeted and posted to its Facebook page this week that it plans to "flip" the "p" in its name June 11, sparking a flood of internet speculation about what the new "b" will stand for. People started to wonder if the b stood for breakfast, brunch or bacon, which would make sense, but others said perhaps the new identity had other possibilities such as bitcoin, beer, broccoli, burritos or even break dancing.
There were also numerous votes for bears, beets and Battlestar Galactica - a reference to a popular meme from the American version of "The Office."
For its part, IHOP's social media crew touted the tease on social media.
When a tweet from Patrick Ford begged the company to "stop b-ing elusive and tell me what is the answer b!," the company responded, "batience, Batrick, batience."
For now, the IHOP name remains on the chain's 1,671 restaurants across the country, including local outlets in Brainerd, Hixson, Fort Oglethorpe, Cleveland and Dalton, Georgia.
DINE Brands, which operates both the IHOP and Applebee's restaurant chains, said in the most recent fiscal year, IHOP stores generated sales of $3.3 billion.
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