Cracker Barrel’s attempted rebranding reveals its wokeness

Cracker Barrel’s announced rebranding and new logo has created a hornets’ nest of criticism.  So much so that the company is rolling back on its plans.  But has the brand already suffered irreparable harm?

I have always liked Cracker Barrel.  I liked the old country atmosphere and the food.  (Southern fried chicken is my favorite menu item – with corn, mashed potatoes and gravy.  The biscuits and cornbread are outstanding.  I also like … oh … I am digressing.)

Recently, Cracker Barrel announced a makeover – something airier and a bit more modern.  Brighter walls without so many of those antique items that invite perusing while waiting for the food.  In terms of branding, atmosphere and menu, Cracker Barrel had it spot on, in my opinion.  (And I say that as a person whose consulting firm was involved in a lot of branding and logo issues).

Obviously, the folks in the oak-paneled office did not agree.  In terms of atmosphere, they propose making Cracker Barrel look more like an IHOP.  Yes, they are leaving a few of the antique wall decorations hanging between expanses of sterile painted walls. 

The most notable proposed change was the iconic logo.  It exuded “country”.  It features a farmer in bib overalls seated on an 1800s-era chair and leaning on … a cracker barrel.  For the few who may not have grasped the imagery of the logo, they added “Old Country Store”.

The proposed logo has a hexagon in the same yellow background.  But the old man, the chair, the cracker barrel and the wording would be gone.  The proposed logo is as sterile as the new atmosphere.  It is uninspired.  It is the kind of design that would be produced by a failing first-year graphic arts student.

But … public outrage and precipitous drops in the company stock ($95 million in a day) and the number of customers brought management to their senses — at least partially. The old “cracker” in bib overalls is to stay.  But sadly, a lot of the contracted restaurant make-over is in process.

One can only imagine if the elimination of the unique atmosphere and the unique logo would see a change in the unique menu.  (No more Southern Fried Chicken?  Or will they change the name to New York Fried Chicken?)

Actually, it may not matter.  I went through a similar situation with a favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago – La Strada.  It had the stucco walls with painted vines and murals of quaint Italian villages.  And the food was outstanding. (I loved the mushroom risotto).  Weeell …  they did a makeover – plain walls and modern furnishings.  It was less of “The Godfather” and more like Olive Garden.  It looked like the same menu, but it did not taste the same. I stopped bringing out-of-town guests – and cut back on my visits.  A restaurant that had been operating successfully for decades went out of business.

(Everything above is preamble.  Now to the point of the commentary … finally).

Corporate makeovers and changes in marketing strategies are risky.  The smartest folks in the boardrooms – armed with millions of dollars of research, polling and focus groups – do screw up.  Remember New Coke? Bud Lite (in the loafers)? The Edsel? Scrapple?  And the list goes on.  These major blunders are usually the result of hubris over common sense.

Cracker Barrel’s problem is not just marketing.  The proposed changes have gotten Cracker Barrel, itself, embroiled in the political crosswinds of the day.  The removal of the White guy was seen by some as cancel politics.  Dump the toxic male imagery.

(Ironically, the forces of political correctness and identity politics launched similar campaigns in the past to remove Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben from packaging.  That is the kind of hypocrisy you get when you spin everything as racist.  But I degrees.)

The rebranding has exposed something more problematic for Cracker Barrel – and the cause of the national outcry.  Without this controversy, very few folks would have known of Cracker Barrel’s extreme woke corporate policies. (I did not).

The leadership of Cracker Barrel are not a bunch of down home folks – driving Chevy Silverado pick-up trucks – clinging to their guns and their Bibles, as President Obama once characterized them.  Rather, the folks at the top are more representative of the elitist radical left.

Cracker Barrel President and CEO Julie Masino has frequently been accused of “maintaining a DEI regime” – committing major corporate resources on race and gay issues.  Among the more visible examples is painting some of the company’s iconic rocks in the colors of the rainbow gay flag at various outlets – even to the point of displaying a giant one on the company’s headquarters campus.

Gilbert Davila joined the Cracker Barrel board in 2020.  His primary qualification for the board seat was the fact that Davila operated a DEI consulting firm for 15 years that focused on DEI hiring and advertising.

Because of its left-wing corporate culture, the company disproportionately sponsors and participates in a large number of left-wing woke events, such as the Out and Equal Workplace Summit and Gay Pride parades. It uses DEI as a means to engage in preferential hiring practices for minorities and gays.  These activities have resulted in a number of awards and honors for left-wing woke-oriented organizations.

But who knew?  All these activities were below the radar for most Americans.  They (we) bought into the old-fashioned American imagery.  The move away from that has had one good result.  Cracker Barrel’s façade of traditional Americana has been torn down by the proposed makeover.  More people are now aware that Cracker Barrel is a major corporate player in the radical left-wing woke movement — that often runs contrary to the traditional American values they embraced in their marketing.  It would have been more appropriate to add Ben and Jerry to the logo.

Conservative activist, Robby Starbuck (not that Starbuck), laid out the ideological case against Cracker Barrel in a YouTube video that went viral.  And the people are responding. 

At this juncture, it appears that Cracker Barrel may become yet another example of “Go Woke and Go Broke”.

So, there ‘tis.

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