The hard-hitting news of last week centered around an unlikely subject: Cracker Barrel. That wasn’t on our weekly BINGO cards, but we’re always here for some rebrand drama. The Tennessee-born Southern country-themed chain of restaurants unveiled a new logo, brand system, and interior design last week, and immediately faced backlash from its conservative customer base for being too “woke.”
Most notably, the brand removed the franchise’s figurehead, Uncle Herschel (a.k.a. “old timer”), from the logo, modernized the logo typeface, placed it within a borderless hexagon instead of the previous bean-like shape, and replaced the brown brand color with a darker, almost black hue.
To be perfectly clear: neither logo is good. The original had some redeeming retro charm and character, but was clunky, cumbersome, and not very legible. And while the new logo is more intelligible and accessible, it’s essentially a corporate smudge of a design.
Where’s the warmth as exemplified by the chain’s front-porch aesthetic?
© Cracker Barrel
Here’s a concise and astute breakdown of each logo from @MarcosPrisca on X:
That said, the extreme backlash to the rebrand from the right is outlandish, though it’s no less than what one might expect. Raeshanda Lias lays it out with masterful wit on Instagram below:
Cracker Barrel responded to the outcry today, releasing a statement online sort of apologizing but mostly telling their customers to calm the hell down and continue eating their artery-clogging food.
The provocative rebrand was brought about by Cracker Barrel’s new CEO, Julie Felss Masino. She assumed her role earlier this month with the mission of modernizing the restaurant and reviving its relevancy. Well, in a way, mission accomplished! Less than a month into Masino’s new position, and she’s already making headlines. Unfortunately, those headlines include the restaurant chain’s value plummeting by nearly $100 million since the new brand rollout.
What’s clear here is that Cracker Barrel lost the thread, misunderstanding exactly what it is about their brand and their brand story that their CB faithful have responded to over the last 50+ years. It’s not that they intentionally woke-ified their branding as some extremists are spewing online; it’s that they stripped the restaurant’s identity of its wholesome charm and warmth inherent to its brand story.