Calls for IHOP boycott as sign blames Joe Biden for slow service

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Social media users have called for a boycott of pancake chain IHOP following a sign that blamed Joe Biden for slow service and handing out “free money”.

The Wasilla, Alaska, branch of IHOP reportedly had a sign up about reduced hours last week, which blamed the US president for a worker shortage.

It also accused Mr Biden of handing out so-called “free money” in the form of Covid relief checks to Americans, millions of whom have faced hardship because of Covid.

The IHOP sign said, “Due to the fact that Biden gave out way too much free money and nobody wants to work anymore. We are forced to reduce our hours during the week.”

The image, which was captioned “We walked out”, was shared last week by a Reddit user, @Ok_Morning925, who has since deleted the account.

It soon found its way onto Twitter, where dozens of social media users called for a boycott of IHOP using the #BoycottIHOP hashtag.

“Since their parent company took millions of dollars in PPP [loans] and then decided to add a side of bulls*** with their pancakes, the very least they can expect is a boycott,” one user alleged.

“IHop won’t have to worry about their lack of staff after today. Good luck,” added another.

One Twitter user went as far as creating a mock poster for IHOP, which said: “Apologies, we are short staffed today. No one wants to work anymore”.

“Also, we’re bad employers who pay poverty wages and offer zero benefits. We’re also pretty horrible to work for. This is clearly the government’s fault”.

Some however said IHOP “locations are independently owned and operated”, and that the pancake chain was not responsible for the sign seen in Arkansas.

A spokesperson for IHOP told The Independent, “This sign was posted last month at one of our franchised locations in Wasilla, Alaska and was immediately removed after we were made aware.” 

“This was an unauthorised act of one individual and does not represent the viewpoints of IHOP or the local Franchisee.”

The furore follows mainly Republican criticism of Covid relief checks and an apparent worker shortage in the hospitality sector.

Unemployment has meanwhile fallen by two percentage points, from 6.2 per cent to 4.2 per cent, since Mr Biden became president in January. Many Americans have also changed jobs, or fought for better conditions.