IHOP Gets Trolled By Competitors After Name Change Announcement

IHOP isn’t really changing its name to IHOb.

But it is adding seven burgers to its menu and it managed to convince a lot of people last week when it suggested — wink, wink — that it was flipping the “P” in its name to a “b.”

Speculation that the “b” stood for breakfast was shot down when IHOP employees began spilling the beans about the burgers.

“Spoiler alert guys: its burgers. I work at IHOP,” tweeted an employee last week.

Dine Brands Global, the Glendale, Calif.-based company that owns the 1,752-store chain, kept mum about the change until Monday, when it fessed up, launching a marketing campaign that includes television advertising touting a $6.99 burger special with unlimited fries and a drink.

“People know us for pancakes,” IHOP chief marketing officer Brad Haley said at a burger tasting event last week at which the chain unveiled its specialty 100 percent black Angus burgers to a small group of journalists.

“The goal is to get people to think about us for lunch and dinner,” Haley conceded. “We have a lot of white space after breakfast.”

IHOP’s customer traffic has fallen in each of the last 10 quarters, according to regulatory filings.

The artery-clogging additions to the menu include Cowboy BBQ (which comes with onion rings, bacon and American cheese) and Jalapeño Kick (including sauteed jalapeños, serrano peppers, hickory-smoked bacon, pepper jack cheese and mayo).

The burgers will be cooked on the same griddles as the chain’s signature pancakes with a grill press to preserve the juices.

Until now, IHOP featured just three traditional burgers on its menu.

At least one IHOP restaurant — fittingly in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard — is changing its signage to IHOb on Monday, management said.

But the rest of the eateries will likely ride the publicity for as long as it lasts.

“We’re sticking with IHOb as long as we can,” Haley told The Post.

After the announcement was made their competitors immediately started trolling the dining chain, and it soon turned into a hilarious social media onslaught.

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