For years, fantasy football players have come up with increasingly outsized ways to punish last-place finishers. A reliable option is making the league loser eat pancakes for 24 hours, with each flapjack taking an hour off the clock. IHOP is turning that form of fantasy football punishment into a promotion and campaign, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
“Here’s the bottom line: pancakes should not be a punishment,” said IHOP President Lawrence Kim. “We decided we’re going to flip the script here. We’re going to turn that ‘punishment’ into a fun celebration … not just to the last place finishers, but to everyone across America.”
Beginning Monday, IHOP will offer free bottomless pancakes to guests who purchase select breakfast combos. To tease the deal, the chain teamed with New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers for an ad campaign that launched during Christmas Day football coverage on Netflix.
In a 30-second spot, Nabers — a promising star who set records in his rookie year before a knee injury ended his sophomore season prematurely — explains how pancakes have played into fantasy football culture. A waitress laughs at the idea of Nabers helping the fantasy football players who drafted him this year, and a child who recognizes him bemoans choosing the wide receiver with his first-round pick.
Debuting ads during Netflix’s Christmas NFL games, which averaged more than 26 million U.S. viewers in 2024, has become an easy way for brand marketers to reach a large, engaged audience during the holidays. Rocket Mortgage this year premiered a new ad during the Dec. 25 game between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings.
Along with the Netflix ad push, IHOP’s campaign will include a presence on national TV, an appearance by Nabers on Caleb Pressley’s popular “Sundae Conversation” podcast, influencer and creator activations, and elements across the brand’s social and digital channels.
“When we thought about this activation and how to bring the two phenomenons to life, we wanted to make this a cultural moment. There are 62 million people across North America who play fantasy football,” Kim said of the effort.
Value meets culture
IHOP’s new bottomless pancakes deal is an incremental layer to the chain’s value offerings that launched in 2024 and expanded in September 2025. Restaurants in all segments of the industry have rolled out and refreshed value menus in the last year as consumers continue to be crunched by a tough economy. In IHOP’s case, the value menu has helped the chain notch its first quarter of positive traffic in many years and will continue being a key focus.
“Everyday value is going to be a constant layer as we go on because we understand that consumers in these uncertain times are seeking value, but at the same time, they’re seeking great food and great service, in the breakfast space in particular,” Kim said.
Kim officially began his tenure as IHOP president in January 2025 after a three-year stint as chief innovation officer at Yum Brands and more than seven years at Taco Bell. Priorities for the executive include culture-driving marketing and generating greater awareness across marketing channels.
To achieve those goals, IHOP earlier this year moved its social and creative work in-house. The internal team has been behind efforts that sought to break a Guinness World Record and innovation-led offerings like a limited-time item that saw IHOP hop on the Dubai chocolate craze.
“What I always say with IHOP is, expect the unexpected,” Kim said. “We’re going to have a lot of fun and tons of engagement with our fans, with our guests. And if you thought Dubai chocolate pancakes were cool, get ready for 2026.”
