Feeling peckish? Or better yet, pancakish? Could be because it's IHOP National Pancake Day. Teresa Scanlan, aka Miss America, is helping the nearly 1,500 IHOP restaurants in the US promote the annual giveaway: a free "short stack" of three buttermilk pancakes.

In return, the chain is suggesting that customers make a donation to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, as its goal is to raise $2.3 million today. Since launching the yearly marketing promotion in 2006, IHOP has raised $5.4 million for the charity.

Wal-Mart and Carrefour are just two of the global brands that are being confronted these days by the rising costs of doing business in China in the face of price constraints, faltering consumer demand, and burgeoning inflation in (cue drums) The World’s Largest Market.

Yet at the same time, other brands including Yum! continue to prosper in China.

So what’s going on? The basic problem is that rising input costs — such as skyrocketing wheat prices, and increasing wages — are skewing somewhat the bargain-basement economics that have made China the most robust economy in the world. Beijing has pushed back with retail-price controls, putting retail brands in a vise.Continue reading...

It doesn’t quite meet the “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore” test, but Taco Bell employees are rising up in defense of their own seasoned beef in a new broad-based marketing campaign announced by the fast feeder today.

The brand reacted immediately after the filing of a class-action suit in January that alleged Taco Bell’s ground-beef billing comprised only 35% beef. It launched an online and newspaper-advertising campaign titled, “Thanks for Suing Us,” in which Taco Bell shared the recipe for its seasoned beef “to set the record straight.”

Now, Taco Bell is doubling down.Continue reading...

Love McDonald's so much you want to marry it? Or, next best thing — get married there? That's now possible thanks to the brand's marketers in Hong Kong, where locals have been known to line up all day (having lived there, I've witnessed this!) to score the latest Snoopy toy or other collectible.

Cue McWeddings. While McDonald's weddings aren't unheard of in the US, they never occur on the premises. McDonald's in Hong Kong is going one better, offering an in-restaurant wedding package for which they'll host a wedding ceremony and party.

Yes, at least in Hong Kong, you may now McKiss the bride.Continue reading...

American seafood restaurant chain Long John Silver's today unveiled its first commercial promoting its new "We Speak Fish" tagline, logo and brand positioning.

In a move that pre-dated new CEO John C. Miller, Denny's is spending an estimated $60 million to tap into America's nostalgia for friendlier service and simpler (cheaper) menus. It's repositioning its eateries as diners (instead of the family restaurant mantle it has worn for 58 years) with a folksy campaign, a new tagline ("America's diner is always open") and a new value menu. Check 'em out after the jump, hon.Continue reading...

"If we wanted to listen to the food police and sell nuts and berries and tofu burgers, we wouldn't make any money and we'd be out of business."

— Beth Mansfield, spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains

Mansfield was quoted in the Los Angeles Times, in an article ("'Eat less,' U.S. says as fast-food chains super-size their offerings") about the new USDA dietary guidelines vs. fast food restaurants' trend to supersized offerings.

Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell, backs up the company's formal response to a class action lawsuit claiming it doesn't use real beef with a video statement. He's smiling as he assures customers it's a load of baloney, but believe us — he's cheesed. (Also: nice accent; is there a cooking show in his future?)

The brand also released a (slightly) tongue in cheek "Thank you for suing us" print campaign today to accompany this — check it out after the jump.Continue reading...