The IHOP National Pancake Day, which offers a free short stack of their famous buttermilk pancakes, created quite a buzz today (Tuesday). In fact, of the top 20 searches in Google today, IHOP-related queries took 3 of the 20 positions. Not bad!

The goal of National Pancake Day is not to solely promote IHOP, which many may believe. It’s actually an ingenious idea for generating charity donations. IHOP is willing to offer customers a free stack of pancakes, but “all we ask is that you consider making a donation to support local children’s hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network, or other local charities.” National Pancake Day has already hit the $1.3 million mark in donations and is shooting for $5 million this year.

The holiday officially ends at 10pm tonight, so be sure to swing over to your local IHOP right away and when you arrive tell them Aaron sent you. No, no only kidding. They might look at you in a confused manner and deny you pancakes, which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

Marketing Campaign
Aside from registering the official Pancake Day domain (www.ihoppancakeday.com) in 2008, and creating a website, I am not aware of any advertising campaign associated with Pancake Day. I am assuming, given the nature of the holiday and the amount of fluffy goodies that will be given away, IHOP’s head honchos strayed away from expensive ad spots. I wouldn’t blame them; TV commercials are just too expensive nowadays. And, it’s not the cost that really matters, it’s what you get for the amount paid (ROI).

Sincerely,
Aaron Schoenberger
The Brainchild Group