In the first campaign of its 60th anniversary (and its first with new creative AOR Droga5), Ihop released a brand new TV spot, 'Pilots,' to promote its long-running 'all you can eat pancakes' promotion.
In the 30-second spot, directed by Tom Kuntz, two pilots perform a safety check before takeoff. "Have you checked the pancake?" the captain asks his co-pilot, replacing the jargon with the breakfast dish.
"Pancakes," the co-pilot flips a switch. The two perform checks for other "pancake" switches, before giving the final "We're all pancakes, sir" go-ahead.
"We'll that sounds flipping pancakes to me, the captain exclaims before announcing to his crew and passengers, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are cleared for pancakes." The plane then 'crash-lands' the parking lot of an Ihop restaurant.
On the spot and campaign, Droga5's executive creative director Scott Bell said: "Ihop is a brand that always has pancakes on the brain and believes that everything would be better if it were all about pancakes. Knowing this, our priority going into this new integrated campaign was to capture this simple truth in just three words: Pancakes, Pancakes Pancakes."
Said Ihop chief marketing officer Brad Haley: "The love that people have for the Ihop brand – and especially for our pancakes – was the natural launching pad for our new advertising campaign and the basis of its rallying cry of 'Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes.'" He said the Droga5 team, is having a lot of fun with the task, "We're excited to see the campaign come to life across every channel."
Droga won the IHOP account in December and looks to amplify the campaign through social and digital content via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram throughout their promotional window, as well as more TV, print and radio assets for the larger campaign throughout the year.
