IHOP's Mother's Day Miss: Pancake Ultrasound Tweet Received Poorly

Brands love holidays, especially for Twitter content purposes. As such, a holiday rooted in love and appreciation like Mother’s Day is somewhat low-hanging fruit for many, which is why it was somewhat startling to see breakfast chain IHOP whiff so badly on Sunday.

The brand posted a tweet with an ultrasound image revealing a stack of pancakes in a womb , complete with a caption reading, “If you have pancakes in your tum tum, does that make you a pancake mum mum? Happy Mother’s Day to ALL the moms out there!”

Understandably, the tweet was met with mixed responses—mostly confusion, with some revulsion sprinkled in.

Recounting the instance, AdWeek said it best , “The tweet raises so many questions. Just, so many. Each one more disturbing than the last. Is this implying a uterus and a stomach are the same thing? Are those pancakes currently exiting the body? But the only question that really matters is: Good god, why?”

Maddie has spent her career in the media industry, serving in various editorial roles before migrating into a hybrid content strategy and PR role with No Limit Agency. Her passion for storytelling and love of writing help her create meaningful content on behalf of her clients and fulfill No Limit Agency’s mission to tell people-driven stories. Maddie is a graduate of Saint Louis University, where she studied Communications with a focus in journalism and media studies as well as Sports Business.

In her spare time, Maddie can be found exploring Chicago’s food scene, watching an NBA game or lamenting over her middling fantasy baseball team.