18 August 2016

Holiday Inn Express® Brand Gets Football Fans Game Ready with Latest Pancake Selfie Express Tour

Hotel Brand Brings Pancake Selfies, Breakfast until Noon and Late Check-out to Smart Travelers as the Proud Hotel Sponsor of the SEC

ATLANTA – Fall football, pancakes, selfies: The Holiday Inn Express® brand and its clever Creative Director, actor/comedian Rob Riggle, know that these are a few of guests’ favorite things. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, is hitting the road again this month with the latest Pancake Selfie Express mobile breakfast tour to allow fans in the Big Apple, the nation’s capital and beyond to experience the simple genius of a laser-printed selfie on a pancake.

During its multi-state tour, the high tech food truck, part of the brand’s latest Stay Smart® campaign, will travel to select Southeastern Conference (SEC) football games this fall to celebrate game day. The brand is also introducing Snoozapalooza, a new promotion that extends both breakfast and check-out time until noon every weekend throughout the fall, so fans can rest and refresh after the big game.

The Pancake Selfie Express tour kicks off with an East Coast preview at New York City’s Union Square Plaza on Aug. 19 and Washington, D.C.’s Adam’s Morgan neighborhood on Aug. 25 and Aug. 26. The rolling pancake station is outfitted with five pancake machines, each producing one pancake per minute – all at the push of a button. One-of-a-kind laser printers then transfer selfies from smartphone to pancake. From batter to platter, the entire process takes mere minutes. This delicious piece of breakfast technology was created and perfected exclusively for IHG and is a first for any hotel brand.

From September through December, the brand will bring the Pancake Selfie Express experience to tailgate parties at weekend college football games alongside SEC Nation, the SEC Network’s traveling pre-game show which is hosted live from a different SEC campus on game day each week. Through the brand’s official sponsorship of the SEC and the SEC Network, football fans will have the opportunity to make their own pancake selfie and win SEC-related swag, including tickets to the SEC Championship Game in December. Consumers can also expect midweek stops in select cities along the college football route and can visit staysmart.com for updates on when and where the truck will pop up next.

Jennifer Gribble, Vice President, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites® Brands, Americas, IHG said: “Last year, we worked with our Creative Director Rob Riggle to create the first-of-its-kind Pancake Selfie Express tour as a way to bring our beloved one-touch pancake machine to the people, while combining three things we know our target guest loves most – food trucks, state-of-the-art technology and selfies. We are tremendously excited to be back for a second year, bringing pancake selfies to two of the biggest cities on the East Coast, as well as football fans across the Southeast as the proud hotel sponsor of the SEC. No one gets college football fans game ready like our Holiday Inn Express hotel teams.”

To help guests get more out of weekends throughout the fall, the Holiday Inn Express brand is letting guests eat, sleep and check-out late. With the brand’s new Snoozapalooza promotion, football fans can enjoy extended breakfast and check-out hours until noon on weekends from Sept. 17 through Dec. 18, 2016. Along with the Pancake Selfie Express tour, Snoozapalooza is the brainchild of Creative Director Rob Riggle, a man who can appreciate more time for pancakes at the push of a button. In his role as Creative Director, the funnyman is tapping into his wit and “smarts” to showcase the simple pleasures at Holiday Inn Express hotels that help guests leave ready for anything – like an extra-long and restful night of sleep, an energizing breakfast and a good, fast cup of coffee at the push of a button.

For the latest Stay Smart® campaign updates, including Rob Riggle’s most recent contributions, consumers can visit holidayinnexpress.com as well as the Holiday Inn Express brand’s YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Ends

For further information please contact:

Jordan Worrall
[email protected]
+1 (770) 604 5010

Stefanie Samarripa, Weber Shandwick
ssamarripa@webershandwick,com
+1(212) 445-8240

About IHG®

IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & ResortsKimpton® Hotels & RestaurantsHUALUXE® Hotels and ResortsCrowne Plaza® Hotels & ResortsHotel Indigo®EVEN® HotelsHoliday Inn® Hotels & ResortsHoliday Inn Express®Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.

IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 5,000 hotels and nearly 750,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with more than 1,400 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme with more than 96 million members worldwide.

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 350,000 people work across IHG’s hotels and corporate offices globally.

Visit www.ihg.com for hotel information and reservations and www.ihgrewardsclub.com for more on IHG Rewards Club. For our latest news, visit: www.ihg.com/media and follow us on social media at: www.twitter.com/ihgwww.facebook.com/ihg and www.youtube.com/ihgplc.

About the Holiday Inn Express® brand

Holiday Inn Express® hotels are modern hotels for value-oriented travelers. Fresh, clean and uncomplicated, Holiday Inn Express hotels offer competitive rates for both business and leisure travelers. Guests Stay Smart® at Holiday Inn Express hotels where they enjoy a free hot Express Start™ breakfast bar with new healthier offerings, free high-speed Internet access and free local phone calls (U.S. and Canada only). There are currently 2,456 Holiday Inn Express hotel locations around the globe. For more information about Holiday Inn Express hotels or to book reservations, visit www.holidayinnexpress.com. Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/hiexpress or Facebook www.Facebook.com/holidayinnexpress