Brands are generally getting less error prone on Twitter, as evidenced by the longer period of time between epic fails. But IHOP on Sunday obliged with a doozy—a tweet about pancakes that doubled as an insult to flat-chested women.
The tweet stayed up for a few hours until an Internet frenzy forced IHOP to rethink it, and then delete it. Soon enough, there was the requisite apology.
Earlier today we tweeted something dumb and immature that does not reflect what IHOP stands for. We're sorry.
— IHOP (@IHOP) October 19, 2015Also, of course, there was the backlash to the backlash, typical in such cases, with some people defending the tweet as good old-fashioned comedy and not dumb misogyny—forgetting that, whatever anyone's personal taste in humor, it's just bad business for a pancake chain to joke about women's breasts.
Dear @IHOP: Making crude references about the size of women's breasts is never a good thing, but it's especially off the mark THIS month! +
— Kimberly A. Woodard (@BeingKimmie) October 19, 2015
.@IHOP EXECS: We need a new social media strategy. INTERN: How about: phrases teenagers use to insult girls? EXECS: Brilliant!
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) October 18, 2015@IHOP my seven beautiful sons saw this tweet and asked me what it means. what do I tell them? they are all in their thirties
— Hot Food Ma (@crushingbort) October 18, 2015