House of Pancakes commercial becomes a slice of real life for Irvine mom
When Irvine resident Lori Cohen submitted a story about what IHOP meant to her, it was unusual for her to contact any company. But she hoped to win a $25 gift card.
Instead, the International House of Pancakes put her in a national commercial.
In the 30-second, reality-TV-style spot, Cohen is sitting at an IHOP when her three children — Jordan, 24, Dylan, 22, and Allie, 20 — suddenly come in. It was a complete shock for Cohen and, having not been together in many months, an emotional reconnection for all.
“That commercial is all very, very real,” she said in an interview. “That’s what’s so special about it. It really was so meaningful for me to have them all there.”
Before moving to Irvine two years ago, Cohen raised her three children in Scottsdale, Ariz. With everyone’s busy schedules, traditional meal times at home were rare. But they did manage to regularly meet in a 24-hour Scottsdale IHOP, which Cohen described as “an extension of our family room.”
In her letter to IHOP, she said the times there allowed her to “feel the wonder of a mom watching her kids laugh, eat and have a great time together, and although there were cell phones, there was no TV on in the background to compete with for attention! But, we still had that warm ‘sitting in the family room’ feeling.”
Allie now lives on her own in Orange County and doesn’t get to see her mother much while she’s busy studying at Chapman University. Dylan lives in Arizona and works in the banking industry. Jordan is in Buffalo, N.Y., working as a chemical engineer.
IHOP brought all of them to a Los Angeles-area IHOP, where the commercial was filmed in June. Before the cameras rolled, Cohen had been coaxed into the restaurant, thinking she was going to be asked more questions.
The surprise worked.
“I heard Allie’s voice say, ‘Hi, Mom,’” Cohen said. “That’s on the commercial and it’s 100% authentic. Then I turned into a quivering, sobbing blob.”
The spot, made by the West Hollywood-based advertising firm Dailey, airs through November. It promotes IHOP’s new Fruit ‘n Streusel Crepes, which the family ate while chatting and being filmed.
Cohen still feels emotional about the day her family was reunited.
“It was an amazing day in my life,” she said.
And the answer is yes: Cohen enjoys her local IHOP. She frequents the one on University Drive, near her house, in the Parkview Center.
