iHOP changing name to iHOb

[MickinMD ★]

Apparently the "b" is for "breakfast."

Story: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ihop-name-change-doesn-t-173736697.html

i HOPe they don't change it, otherwise the joke, "Where do one-legged waitresses work?" doesn't have a good answer!

[goldendesign]

I didn't think that IHOP needed to explain to people they served breakfast. I just assumed the "pancakes" part implied breakfast.

[Ralphie ★]

That sounds to me too much like HOB.

[Ralphie ★]

I hate when companies tinker with names.  NTB has never sounded as good as NTW.

[Tizeye]

I doubt if it is "breakfast". When they are known for pancakes/breakfast, their menu is breakfast, lunch and dinner. I actually got to know their menu quite well during the 15 years I was in Toastmasters. We met weekly from 7-9PM and meeting space was free as long as we had a total bill of over $100. No member was required to eat, it just supported the club to eat. It would be a marketing disaster to re-define them to "breakfast" when competition such as Denny's and Perkins serves all three. 

Perhaps the "b" will stand for bacon, but the emphasized 'bring awareness of healthy menu' so it must be broccoli!  

[Tizeye]

7 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I hate when companies tinker with names.  NTB has never sounded as good as NTW.

THIS - have you noticed Best Buy's new logo they adopted last month. Rather flat compared to the prior which had some dimension to it. Likewise in Toastmasters, they had the round medallion and changed it to the current. Worse, it occurred as I reached the highest level, DTM, They had a solid heavy medallion with substance made of medal. The new one was a cheap piece of plastic reflecting the new logo, generally typical of corporate 'trinkets and trash'. I never bothered to walk to receive the awards at the district conference. 

[Longjohn ★]

International house of beans.

[Tizeye]

International house of beer.

[Road Runner]

It's a small "b" so that they can easily and cheaply modify the signage.  Flip the P over and the "P" becomes a "b".

[MickinMD ★]

Changing names is confusing.  T. Rowe Price's Media and Technology Fund, with the ticker symbol PRMTX, has beaten the S&P 500 for 1, 3, 5, and 10 years and by about 50% since inception in 1993 averaging a return of over 14% per year.  I've been in it almost since inception so the name is burned in my brain.

But in April it changed the name to the Communications and Technology Fund, but kept the PRMTX symbol.  When I checked the fund's value, I knew the symbol was PR for Price, MT for Media and Telecommunications, and X is Price's typical general fund symbol.  But now I have to keep both names in memory to remember the ticker symbol.

[KrAzY]

Who cares what they call it.. I'll keep going to the Waffle House.

[2Far ★]

15 hours ago, Tizeye said:

 

Perhaps the "b" will stand for bacon,

Now there's something I could sink my teeth into.

[TrentonMakes]

Maybe it's just me but changing a company's name seems like a move made in desperation to me.  I think they hope any press the change gets more than outweighs the cost of changing signs, advertising, stationery, etc.

One my my favorite subtle gags on the Simpsons was a womens' business club having a meeting at the "Municipal House of Pancakes".

[MickinMD ★]

I take my nephews to iHOP on occasion when we're going to make an outing of the day: fossil hunting at Calvert Cliffs State Park, seeing Spongebob Squarepants 4D at the IMAX Theatre along with the dolphins, sharks, alligators, reefs, etc. at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, checking out the Komodo Dragons, Giant Pandas, etc. at the National Zoo in D.C., etc. - those iHOP pancakes stick to your ribs and give you a lot of leeway about when you need to stop for lunch!

[Road Runner]

14 hours ago, Road Runner said:

It's a small "b" so that they can easily and cheaply modify the signage.  Flip the P over and the "P" becomes a "b".

I kinda made that up, but it's not impossible.  A grocery store chain that started in my home town had a simple but distinctive sign.  Eight large separate letters that said, "FOOD TOWN".  When a new group purchased the chain and made it much larger, they had to change the name.  In order to save a lot of money on replacing the huge signs, they renamed the chain "FOOD LION".  They only had move the "O" one position over and add the "L" and "I".