Wendy's Throws Meaty Shade at IHOP Rebranding: 'Pancakes Were Too Hard?'

In the latest Wendy's tweet to go viral, the fast-food chain burned the International House of [...]

By Libby Birk

In the latest Wendy's tweet to go viral, the fast-food chain burned the International House of Pancakes after the breakfast joint rebranded itself to the International House of Burgers on Monday.

After spending a few days teeing up its eventual name change from IHOP to IHOB, the company announced Monday that its menu will now feature burgers — an announcement that didn't faze Wendy's, an actual burger restaurant, in the slightest.

Replying to a Wendy's fan who asked the company's Twitter account what it thought about the competition from IHOB, Wendy's said it's "Not really afraid of the burgers from a place that decided pancakes were too hard."

The tweet instantly blew up, garnering thousands of retweets and likes. The company even dropped another bomb, relating IHOB's name change to the kind of thing a child might do to equate him or herself to some sort of superhero.

"Remember when you were like 7 and thought changing your name to Thunder BearSword would be super cool?" Wendy's wrote. "Like that, but our cheeseburgers are still better."

Later, IHOB wrote to Wendy's that it doesn't "want any beef" with the chain, but that it just wants to "share our beef with the world."

The so-called beef went away as soon as it started, however, with Wendy's signing a sort of peace treaty and welcoming IHOB to the burger neighborhood.

It's still unclear whether burgers will be a flash in the pan (cake) for the breakfast chain or if it will try to convince the country that burgers can be best enjoyed with a side of maple syrup. Forbes reports that IHOP has been losing popularity among younger generations and is, indeed, looking to expand beyond breakfast.

And though a juicy cheeseburger may still be top of mind when you think of Wendy's, the company's social media chops have caught the attention of many a Twitter user. Its most recent notable exchange was with WWE wrestler Braun Strowman, who called them out for not having its grilled chicken sandwich readily available upon his past visits. Wendy's quickly remedied the situation by begging Strowman not to flip the restaurant upside down.

And in March, Wendy's released five diss tracks featuring digs at McDonald's, its biggest rival in the burger business (sorry, IHOB).

One track, "Rest in Grease," features direct shots at McDonald's, calling into question their title as king of the American fast food chain market.

"You're No. 1? That's a joke/Why your ice cream machine always broke?/Why your drive-through always slow?/Why your innovation just can't grow?" the track goes. "Them little tweets don't faze me/McDonald's be so lazy/I know the reason you hate me/'Cause I'm fast food's First Lady/It's Queen Wendy up in this thang... Y'all are too chicken for this beef."

No word yet on whether Wendy's will deliver a diss track on IHOB — but the Twitter beef should hold fans over for now.

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