IHOP Chain Raises Over $300,000 for Charity

IHOP has this press release about the results of their day of free pancakes for charity on February 28th.

"In the biggest one-day event in its 48-year history, IHOP gave away nearly one million buttermilk pancakes to unite guests and raise over $300,000 in support of worthy causes at more than 1,200 restaurants nationwide."

This is charity but at the same time every businessman here cannot help notice that this means the chain gave free pancakes all day and collected only $250 per restaurant to compensate for their extra cost of the marketing campaign, extra cost of goods sold, and extra overhead for roughly 160 freebie customers. 

I went to my local IHOP to take advantage of the affair and saw the place filled with high school kids pouring into the premise  in large groups (see my photo above of one typical group) with their very hungry stomachs to take advantage of free food.

Most likely some of those freebies will return -- for many reasons. Consumers are social creatures. High school groups attending the free IHOP activity gives it a stamp of approval among peers. The place takes on some degree of coolness for places to hang out with some. There is also a natural tendency for all of us of quid-pro-quo -- give me a freebie, compound that with a noble cause, and customers tend to feel they owe you one. There is a pull to one degree or another for the customer to return.

What do you think of this marketing effort for charity? They certainly filled seats with hungry people, but was it an effective exercise?