GLENDALE, Calif. – IHOP Restaurants is betting on chicken to strengthen the company’s breakfast and dinner dayparts.

Buttermilk Crispy Chicken headlines a new menu offering that includes Crispy Chicken & Bacon Cheddar Waffles; Crispy Chicken & Pancakes; Crispy Chicken Breakfast Combo; Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich; Signature Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Strips & Fries; Boneless Buffalo Chicken Strips & Fries; Original Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

Brad Haley, chief marketing officer at IHOP, explained that a key area of focus for the company has been building on IHOP’s breakfast innovation while strengthening and expanding the company’s dinner business.

“We’ve generated tremendous momentum around our lunch, dinner, overnight and to-go occasions following the internet-breaking launch of our Ultimate Steakburgers and national DoorDash partnership last year, and we expect our new Crispy Chicken menu to take that initiative even farther,” Haley said.

 “However, a lot of people still might not expect IHOP to be a serious player in fried chicken,” he continued, “so our lead agency, Droga5, created an entertaining new advertising campaign that depicts IHOP sneaking into the chicken game aboard a Trojan chicken. With a full line-up of new items like our Crispy Chicken & Bacon Cheddar Waffles, Signature Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Strips & Fries and the Spicy Buffalo Crispy Chicken Sandwich, the ads may be funny, but we are, indeed, very serious about getting into the chicken game in a big way.”