As evidenced in the news this week, we’ve been hit with a big wave of changes in the world. Emojis, Miss America, and now IHOP have all dropped announcements about their future plans.

A beacon of pancake bliss, generous portions, and hangover cures, the International House of Pancakes – IHOP – is changing its name. Not the whole name, folks. The company sent out a mysterious tweet leaving many people scratching their heads:

“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.”

We’re not sure what sparked the move, but the chain is encouraging fans to guess what the “b” stands for. Could it be breakfast? Bacon? Buttermilk?

Or as one Twitter user guessed, bills? Since stirring up the intrigue, feigned outrage, and silliness among its Twitter followers, IHob-to-be has been rolling out the jokes nonstop.

Amusing guesses from fans include breakdancing, bromance, broccoli, burgers, and burritos. Oh, and there was also “bad decisions”. Not giving any hints or answers up, IHOP is responding with things like “the bossiblities are endless” and “there are so may obtions.”

Replacing every instance of the letter “p” in their tweets with the letter “b”  has some commenters worried about the company’s use of gang slang. (Yes, it’s a thing). A few fans with a different set of concerns pointed out that the new logo looks very, very similar to a popular tampon brand with those last two letters: o.b.

We see both of those points. However, there are marketing and brand experts tossing their opinions in, saying that this is a big, dumb mistake. Now, we get that some people aren’t comfortable with change, and rebranding can either work out really well or not work at all.

But will that be the case here? Internet sleuths over at CNN have already uncovered that no new trademarks have been filed for the name “IHOb”, leaving some to wonder if this will be a permanent thing or a just a special promotion.

Could they be revamping all of their locations? That’s over 1,500 restaurants worldwide that need new signage, menus, and who knows what else. All we can do is wait until the unveiling on June 11^th to find out.

It wouldn’t be the first big brand to do a name flip. Back in January, Dunkin’ Donuts announced it would be experimenting with rebranding by dropping the “Donuts” from its name. Along with that, they also dropped quite a few items from their menu.

People aren’t sure about IHOP/IHOb flipping their name like a pancake, but they are interested in finding out if all this hubbub is going to lead to disappointment or greatness. Stay up to date on their Twitter account or website, which features a countdown clock to Monday. You ready for this? Something tells us we’ll all still call it IHOP.

Source: IHOP is Changing Its Name by TipHero

What do you think about the IHOP name remix? Are you feeling the new logo or hating it? What’s your guess for the letter “b”?

Update, 06/11: IHOP (or should we say IHOB?) has revealed the meaning of its new name…burgers! The chain is officially changing its name to the “International House of Burgers” as it has added seven new “ultimate steakburgers” intended to “satisfy burger cravings morning, noon and night,” according to a press release.