• by Tanya Gazdik , September 2, 2015

InterContinental Hotel Group's Holiday Inn Express spokesman Rob Riggle is taking to the streets for a nine-city tour to showcase the brand’s new “Pancake Selfie Express.”

The nine-city tour, which takes place Sept. 2-4 in Dallas at Pegasus Plaza at City Center, allows flapjack fans to enjoy a one-of-a-kind selfie on a pancake made by “The Stack Station,” the brand’s one-touch “smart” pancake machine.

The hotel chain hired the actor and comedian in July as its “creative director and breakfast excellence honcho.” The former “Daily Show” correspondent's first task was launching a crowdsourcing contest to name the hotel brand's pancake machine.  More than 28,000 wordsmiths suggested their best and brightest monikers for a chance to win bragging rights and a trip to Vermont.

To track the truck on its journey, learn more about the state of the art selfie technology or for some humorous videos starring Riggle, consumers can visit a dedicated web page.  The brand is publicizing the promotion on its social media pages, including Twitter and Facebook pages, and also at staysmart.com.

People love breakfast and they also love selfies, says Jennifer Gribble, vice president, Holiday Inn Express brand, Americas.

“This clever concept is the perfect fit for our latest ‘Stay Smart’ campaign because it brings our Express Start breakfast offering to travelers in a fun and engaging way to show them why the Holiday Inn Express brand is the smart choice,” Gribble says in a release.

The “Pancake Selfie Express” features five push-button pancake machines, each producing one pancake per minute as well as finely-tuned lasers which then imprint selfies taken via mobile phone camera directly onto each pancake. The selfie technology is a first for any hospitality brand.

After the Dallas stop, the tour continue to Austin (Sept. 6-7), Phoenix (Sept. 11-14), San Diego (Sept. 17-19), Long Beach (Sept. 21-22), Los Angeles (Sept. 24-27), San Francisco (Oct. 2-3), Oakland (Oct. 5-6) and Sacramento (Oct. 9-11).

Locals in each city can visit the truck for their own pancake selfie as well as the chance to win breakfast-inspired swag and IHG Rewards Club points to be applied towards future stays at Holiday Inn Express properties.