Fast-food and casual-dining chains are battling out over whose menu has the best “value.” IHOP hopes that the pancake house’s $6 breakfast deal stacks up with the restaurant sector’s best bargains. 

McDonald’s, 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.

IHOP’s new nationwide, everyday $6 value offering ($7 in some pricier markets) features four breakfast meals, ranging from a ham-and-cheese omelet that’s paired with buttermilk pancakes to scrambled eggs with cheese and hickory-smoked bacon and served with hash browns.

“There’s 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. 

IHOP’s new promotion flipped the marketing messaging from the chain’s 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. IHOP’s “Everyday” offer will instead run every day, adding the chain’s 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 chain’s parent company, Dine Brands, reported declines for IHOP’s 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.”

$6 vs. $16: The Price Gap IHOP Is Betting On

While Kim didn’t 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 IHOP’s 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 IHOP’s food and are pleased with the chain’s service. But consumers also shared that they were craving deals.

IHOP’s 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.” 

“There’s value in being able to have a breakfast for $6, but there’s 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 didn’t 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.”