When IHOP said it would change its name to IHOb, the speculation ran rampant: The International House of Breakfast, or Bacon, or even Blintzes? But, as it turns out, the chain is looking past morning meals with an eye toward enhancing its lunch and dinner business. On Monday, IHOP announced that it was changing its name to "IHOb," with the “b” denoting burgers. The change is not permanent, a company spokeswoman said, but rather is a move to promote its new burger line. Known for its pancakes, the newly dubbed IHOP is releasing seven Ultimate Steakburgers as part of its rebranding effort — all the while keeping its breakfast items on the menu. More Money:Here's how IHOP, er, IHOb stands on burgers compared to McDonald's, Burger King, others Though the company has been offering burgers since its creation in 1958, IHOP's main motive for revamping the menu item and emphasizing it is to attract a wider audience, according to Chief Marketing Officer Brad Haley. “The big opportunity for the IHOb brand is to develop our lunch and dinner business,” Haley said. “Burgers are the most consumed entree item for men, women and children in America," he continued, adding that "it made sense to start with burgers.” More Money:Target chases Millennials with cheap but chic tech that will mostly cost $20 or less More Money:Investing in Facebook, Amazon, Google stocks could turn summer job pay into a fortune More Money:McDonald's: You buy more from touch-screen kiosks than a person. So expect more kiosks At the start of last week, IHOP hinted at changing its name in a tweet, flipping the “P” to a “b.” This generated a lot of social media buzz, as Twitter users guessed at the meaning behind the new letter. While some people doubted the change would go through, IHOP doubled down late last week: The company both changed its Twitter handle and propped up signs with the new logo. With this move, IHOP follows a recent trend of restaurant chains tapping into markets outside of their specialties. In March 2014, Taco Bell — known for its lunch and dinner options — rolled out a national breakfast menu. Three years later, coffee powerhouse Starbucks introduced lunch offerings in an effort to draw in more customers during lunch hours. And just this month, KFC announced plans to sell a vegetarian equivalent of its chicken to attract a new base. “The whole goal of this effort was to convince people that we were just as serious about our burgers as we are about our pancakes,” Haley said. “Consequently, we needed to make a bold signal to disrupt people’s thinking about IHOP and make it IHOb.” Though Haley said he is optimistic about the outcome of the rebranding effort, some are skeptical of how successful the tweak will be. “There are many other brands that are owning the burger space,” said Allen Adamson, a co-founder of marketing strategy firm Metaforce. “While strategically it makes sense to get people in (IHOP) after 11 o’clock in the morning, owning burgers is a non-starter for them. It’s just going to be a disconnect to get consumers to (believe IHOP) has the best burgers.”<doc-sep>IHOP, the scene of many 3 a.m. drunken stacks of buttermilk pancakes and not much else, is rebranding. As you and every other American within spitting distance of a strip mall knows, IHOP stands for the International House of Pancakes. But, the chain announced Monday, it is replacing the P with a B and becoming IHOb, the International House of....something. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. 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 pic.twitter.com/evSxKV3QmT — IHOP (@IHOP) June 4, 2018 You might ask: What could be more integral to the core of its brand than P for pancakes? Bacon? Biscuits? Bruschetta? (Le)Bron? Bacchanalia? Our money is on the incredibly okay option, "breakfast." This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Are we all falling for a massive PR stunt that ends up being a hoax? Probably! Guess we'll find out Monday, June 11, when the new and probably not improved IHOb reveals itself. Sarah Rense Sarah Rense is the Lifestyle Editor at Esquire, where she covers tech, food, drinks, home, and more. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>IHOP became IHOb on Monday, in a drawn out and temporary name change where the "P" flipped and became a "b." The former House of Pancakes is now the International House of Burgers because you maybe didn't know they serve burgers. The name change has been all over, so people definitely know IHOb serve burgers. (And some people discovered the "P" in IHOP stood for pancakes along the way.) However, the name change has also become fuel for the endless joke and meme machine on Twitter.<doc-sep>
IHOP is hinting that a big change is coming -- with just the small flip of a letter. The pancake chain, in a tweet Monday morning, suggested that it would change its name from "IHOP" to "IHOb" starting June 11. That's right. It's not a typo, although the company has not disclosed the meaning of the new acronym. “We’re serious about the quality of food and our menu, and this name change really reflects that,” says Stephanie Peterson, IHOP’s executive director of communications. Founded in suburban Los Angeles by Al and Jerry Lapin in 1958, the International House of Pancakes shortened its name to IHOP in 1973, according to the company's website. Now, 45 years later, IHOP appears to be heading for another tweak. More:5 Social Security misunderstandings that could cost you More:Starbucks's newest permanent-menu addition: Serious Strawberry Frappuccino More:Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz to step down The likely change comes in the middle of an important year for the restaurant. In late February, Dine Brands Global, the parent company of IHOP, announced it would close 30 to 40 IHOP restaurants along with 60 to 80 Applebee’s restaurants in an effort to acquire and grow small chains that offer healthy and ethnic food. This move followed a trend from the year prior, in which Dine Brands Global shut down 23 IHOP restaurants. At the same time, though, Dine Brands has offset some of the losses by opening new restaurants in select markets. IHOP opened 60 restaurants and Applebee's opened up 19 restaurants in 2017. People had mixed reactions to the tweet suggesting a name change was coming. Some guessed at what the acronym "IHOb" stood for, while others took the opportunity to complain. . The company will announce the likely name change on June 11.