On Feb. 13, IHOP gave out free pancakes as part of National Pancake Day. According to Today, diners who are “in-restaurant at IHOP between 7am and 7pm local time” were given “a free Short Stack of Buttermilk Pancakes,” with the deal limited to “three buttermilk pancakes per guest.”
Many were fans of this promotion. However, some questioned whether the restaurant was cutting corners in other areas to allow this deal to happen.
One such person was TikTok user Nini (@nini_renee_). In a clip with over 219,000 views as of Friday, Nini shows a stack of pancakes with several dollops of butter on top. As the video progresses, she attempts to film an aesthetically pleasing syrup pour—however, as the syrup comes out of the bottle, it does so in a loose, liquified way.
This caused Nini to cry conspiracy.
“Tried getting a cute video putting syrup but it’s free pancake day, so they watered it down for today,” she writes in the text overlaying the video. In the caption, she adds, “The syrup is like water…cmon ihop pancakes are good tho!”
In the comments section, users offered their own theories as to why the syrup was runny.
“Could be real maple. It’s super thin compared to the cheap stuff,” said a commenter. This is unlikely. As noted by Mashed, IHOP’s “Old Fashioned” Syrup is not, in fact, maple syrup, but a maple-flavored syrup made from “corn syrup, water, and sugar, along with artificial flavors and preservatives.”
“When its hot it gets thinner if that,” explained another. Nini countered by saying the syrup was not hot.
“I used to work there , the syrup gets like that when they half a** wash the syrup bottles,” claimed a third. “Ur drinking sink water mixed with syrup sadly.”
@nini_renee_ The syrup is like water 🤣😭cmon ihop pancakes are good tho! #ihop #freepancake #fyp #foryoupage #girlsontiltok #girls #christian ♬ original sound – Nini🦋
Other commenters simply questioned the idea of watering down syrup in the first place.
“U really think people making minimum wage spend time watering stuff down,” questioned a commenter. “Workers dont care that much.”
IHOP has gone viral several times in recent months. In one case, a user called out a worker at the restaurant who refused to serve them. In another, a user showed how they reacted after attempting to get the most out of the restaurant’s all-you-can-eat deal.
The Daily Dot reached out to Nini via Instagram direct message and IHOP via email.
