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Fast-food and casual-dining chains are battling out over whose menu has the best value. IHOP hopes that the pancake houses $6 breakfast deal stacks up with the restaurant sectors best bargains. McDonalds, Burger King, and Olive Garden have all recently unveiled discounted menu offerings as low- and middle-class consumers have been more loudly signaling that they are feeling pinched by inflation and anxiety about a weakening jobs market. IHOPs new nationwide, everyday $6 value offering ($7 in some pricier markets) features four breakfast meals, ranging from a ham-and-cheese omelet thats paired with buttermilk pancakes to scrambled eggs with cheese and hickory-smoked bacon and served with hash browns. Theres a clear message that guests want and need more value right now, says IHOP president Lawrence Kim during an interview with Fast Company. The Everyday Value Menu kicks off Monday with a national advertising campaign that will run on linear TV and streaming platforms, in public spaces, and on social channels including TikTok and Instagram. IHOPs new promotion flipped the marketing messaging from the chains prior all-day breakfast special, which was known as House Faves. The breakfast purveyor wanted to more clearly communicate the promo to diners with the word value. Both promotions were available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., but Faves excluded weekends. IHOPs Everyday offer will instead run every day, adding the chains two busiest traffic days. We wanted to make the value menu simple to understand, Kim says. The bigger value bet comes as IHOP has reported softer sales for more than a year. The chains parent company, Dine Brands, reported declines for IHOPs domestic system-wide comparable same-restaurant sales in fiscal 2024 and the first two quarters of fiscal 2025. IHOP has projected that for the current fiscal year, that metric will range between a decline of 1% to a growth of 1%. During an earnings presentation to Wall Street analysts in August, Dine Brands CEO John Peyton said IHOP is seeing steady improvement in traffic and comp sales due to the expanded bet on a value menu, campaigns including an ad spot from this spring that featured NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr., and a recent decision to bring social creative and content teams in-house to generate more engagement with Gen Z consumers. Peyton said the recent pivot on the social strategy led IHOP to see a 400% increase in engagement, growing followers by 30% across TikTok and Meta on a quarter-to-quarter basis. All of these efforts, he promised, are keeping the brand relevant and well positioned for continued progress in the second half of the year. [Photo: IHOP] $6 vs. $16: The Price Gap IHOP Is Betting On While Kim didnt share the average amount spent by an IHOP guest, the $6 offering is a considerable discount from standard menu items. In New York City, for example, four pumpkin spice pancakes are $10, while combo meals that feature French toast, pancakes, eggs, and other breakfast staples are $16 and higher. Kim says the promotional offers were tested in several markets before launching nationally, as IHOP wanted to see a lift in traffic, overall sales, and restaurant profits. We proved success across all three of those metrics, he adds. Kim says IHOPs decision to get more assertive on the value meal promotion was in part validated by his own ongoing listening tour, in which he visits restaurants in states including Ohio and New York and meets with servers, cooks, general managers, and customers. As he spent time with diners, Kim says that they would consistently tell him that they love IHOPs food and are pleased with the chains service. But consumers also shared that they were craving deals. IHOPs ad spot was developed with ad agency Deutsch, which has also produced creative work for Taco Bell, Walmart, Nintendo, and Dr Pepper. Ryan Lehr, co-chief creative officer at Deutsch, says that the concept was focused on the different meanings of value. Theres value in being able to have a breakfast for $6, but theres also the value of being able to reconnect with your family and friends, Lehr says. The campaign was directed by Drew Kirsch, a filmmaker whose vibrant and colorful style has been seen in music videos starring Taylor Swift, Shakira, and Machine Gun Kelly. The visual portrays a whimsical dreamworld that features each of the four combos, with a backdrop depicting syrup streams, French toast mountains, and pancake umbrellas on a beach. We didnt just want to talk about $6, says Kim, though that theme is consistently hit upon in the video, too. We wanted to make sure that it brings the IHOP memories and bonds to life in a very unique way.”
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The Innovation by Design Awards celebrate the people and companies behind some of the worlds best and most thought-provoking design work. This year, Fast Company is recognizing nearly 300 projects that are shaping the world we live in for the better. Every year, Fast Company’s editorial staff spends months poring over applications, vetting projects, and ultimately telling the stories of the best designs from the bunch. Here is a behind-the-scenes peek into how we make it happen. METHODOLOGY Nearly 2,000 applications were submitted to the 2025 Innovation by Design Awards. A team of staff editors and writers, alongside trusted freelancers and external expert judges, assessed each application based on our criteria, which include: Functional: What problem does the design solve? Logical: Does the design make sense? Does it work? Impactful: Does a design make a difference in its users lives? Beauty: Is it thoughtfully designed? In a world of countless new products and serviceswhere it takes little more than an AI prompt to create something newwe believe there is only more value to the practice of design and applying a critical lens to this work, says Mark Wilson, Fast Companys global design editor. Our team of journalists judge each project on both its own merits and its greater cultural context. Through this process, we aim to surface the most relevant projectsthose that matter the most today and into the future. Each winner is chosen after multiple rounds of judging and conversations about a designs role in the current cultural moment. This months-long process ensures that every project chosen to receive an Innovation by Design honor is representative of the best work in its field.
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The North America category of Fast Companys Innovation by Design Awards honors the most innovative designs in North America. This years winner, ZGF Architects’ Portland International Airport expansion, features sustainably sourced wood roofing, transforming the terminal experience into something that feels more like a walk in a forest. See all of the honorees below. [Photo: Ema Peter] Finalists Flyer Via Pro Electric BikeRadio Flyer Orange County Sanitation District HeadquartersHDR The Colossal Woolly MouseColossal Biosciences Honorable Mentions AbortionFinderPower to Decide and Citizen Tech Collective AI Surgical Optimization PlatformeXeX GridLinkXCharge North America Obama.orgObama Foundation, Work & Co, part of Accenture Song, and Manual This story is part of Fast Companys 2025 Innovation by Design Awards. Explore the full list of companies creating products, reimagining spaces, and working to design a better world. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.
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