\n<\/p>\n
It was supposed to be a simple rebrand \u2013 or so Cracker Barrel thought.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the 56-year-old southern restaurant chain known for its country-store charm and nostalgic Americana aesthetic unveiled a new look: a minimalist logo, more modern interiors and a handful of new menu items.<\/p>\n
Gone was the familiar image of \u201cUncle Herschel\u201d, the old man in overalls leaning against a wooden barrel. Also dropped were the words \u201cOld Country Store\u201d. In their place: a pared-down gold background with the words \u201cCracker Barrel\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was the chain\u2019s fifth logo change in its history and part of a broader push to stay relevant and attract young customers amid declining sales.<\/p>\n
But what Cracker Barrel likely saw as a routine refresh quickly spiraled into a political storm, and made the company the latest target in the American right\u2019s campaign against so-called \u201cwokeness\u201d in corporate America.<\/p>\n
In conservative circles online, the backlash was swift.<\/p>\n
\u201cWTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!\u201d Donald Trump Jr posted on X. Conservative activist Christopher Rufo declared: \u201cWe must break the Barrel,\u201d adding that \u201cit\u2019s not about this particular restaurant chain \u2013 who cares \u2013 but about creating massive pressure against companies that are considering any move that might appear to be \u2018wokification\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe implicit promise: Go woke, watch your stock price drop 20 percent, which is exactly what is happening now,\u201d Rufo added.<\/p>\n
Indeed, within days, Cracker Barrel\u2019s stock slid more than 10%. And soon, the outrage reached the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cCracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before,\u201d Donald Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday morning. \u201cMake Cracker Barrel a WINNER again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later that day, Cracker Barrel reversed course.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe said we would listen, and we have,\u201d the company said. \u201cOur new logo is going away and our \u2018Old Timer\u2019 will remain.\u201d<\/p>\n
A senior White House official revealed that Cracker Barrel executives had called the administration on Tuesday, and \u201cthanked President Trump for weighing in on the issue of their iconic \u2018original\u2019 logo\u201d.<\/p>\n
The official added: \u201cThey wanted the President to know that they heard him, along with customer response\u201d and that they would be restoring the old logo.<\/p>\n
Trump celebrated the reversal as a win, and by Wednesday, the company\u2019s stock had rebounded more than 8%. On Thursday, Cracker Barrel also reportedly removed a dedicated \u201cPride page\u201d from its website.<\/p>\n
For the rightwing online voices that drove the backlash, the reversal was another example of the influence they now wield in the US and one that has corporate America willing to bow before it in order to preserve its profits and avoid the hostility of the Maga movement.<\/p>\n
One conservative influencer called it \u201ca BIG win in the culture war for America\u201d.<\/p>\n
For some, it was no surprise that Cracker Barrel\u2019s rebrand became a political flashpoint, as the company has long marketed a vision of \u201cold country\u201d America and has often been associated with conservative values.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has this kind of stylized or idealized representation of what I think many would define as the \u2018good old days\u2019,\u201d Jarvis Sam, founder of the Rainbow Disruption and professor at Brown University and University of California, Berkeley, said earlier this week. \u201cBut for others, its imagery of histories of exclusion, of racial inequity and this romanticization of a time that was not that great, actually \u2013 it was not equally safe and nostalgic for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cracker Barrel, which was founded in 1969, has a documented history of sexual and racial discrimination accusations. In 1991, it adopted a policy that employees who failed \u201cto demonstrate normal heterosexual values\u201d would be terminated, which led to the firing of 11 LGBTQ+ employees and sparked protests.<\/p>\n
In 2004, the company paid $8.7m to settle claims from more than 40 plaintiffs in 16 states alleging racist treatment of Black customers and discrimination against Black employees.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the brand has drawn conservative backlash for making efforts to broaden its appeal and adopt more inclusive policies. It faced backlash in 2022 over adding meatless sausage to its menu and in 2023 for marking Pride Month on social media.<\/p>\n
But Cracker Barrel is far from the only <\/strong>company to have found itself at the center of right-wing backlash campaigns over perceived \u201cwokeness\u201d in recent years.<\/p>\n In 2023, Bud Light lost nearly a quarter of its sales after partnering with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer. Just weeks later, Target pulled some Pride merchandise after facing backlash and threats to its stores. Chick-fil-A was also attacked for its diversity initiatives, and earlier this year, Trump himself slammed Jaguar Land Rover for what he called \u201cstupid\u201d and \u201cwoke\u201d marketing.<\/p>\n \u201cGo woke, go broke,\u201d the White House said this week, referencing a phrase that has, over the years, become a rallying cry among conservative activists opposed to corporate America\u2019s recent efforts to embrace diversity.<\/p>\n Rightwing commentator Rogan O\u2019Handley, better known as DC Draino, who has more than 2 million followers on X, framed Cracker Barrel\u2019s reversal as proof of Maga\u2019s current cultural influence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe boycotted Bud Light and made them lose billions for going woke,\u201d Draino said. \u201cWe boycotted Target and made them lose billions for going woke. Then we boycotted Cracker Barrel and they brought back the southern gentleman within a week. Maga is the most dominant political movement in our lifetimes. And we\u2019re just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n Nooshin Warren, a marketing professor at the University of Arizona who studies political and cause-based marketing, said that companies often take their cues from those in power \u2013 whether it\u2019s the president, the legislature or the courts.<\/p>\n They do so, Warren said, because they \u201cbelieve that the power is mirroring the majority in a democratic setting\u201d and thus believe it \u201cmirrors the majority ideology, which is their market\u201d.<\/p>\n In recent years, companies have increasingly sought to align themselves with social values in part as an effort to engage with younger and increasingly socially conscious consumers, and boycotts of companies have emerged on both sides of the political spectrum.<\/p>\n While it is not necessarily new that consumers want brands to be aligned with their values, Warren said, the difference now is the amplification.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have an amplifier and social media has brought that, and because we have that, generally the loudest people are more heard,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n She said that the Cracker Barrel controversy, along with broader backlash against brands over their perceived political stances over the years, reflects a wider cultural shift in the US.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a politically charged country right now,\u201d Warren said. \u201cWhere almost everything is political, because almost every part of our emotions, household decisions, personal decisions, all has some sort of political value attached to it at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of that, Warren said, \u201cwhen we get institutional legitimacy from the top, most popular, most influential people in a country, that will also definitely add to it\u201d.<\/p>\n Since returning to office, the Trump administration has sought to influence corporate behavior, pushing its rightwing policies and perspectives and seeking to suppress or eliminate support for LGBTQ+ rights and diversity.<\/p>\n According to the Wall Street Journal, corporations such as Mastercard, PepsiCo, Citi and others have scaled back their Pride marketing and sponsorships, citing both political pressure from the administration and growing economic uncertainty tied to tariffs.<\/p>\n In the entertainment industry, Variety reported that Discovery, Amazon, Paramount Global and Disney have begun unwinding their DEI initiatives. Walmart and McDonald\u2019s have also recently pared down their diversity-related initiatives.<\/p>\n An April survey by Gravity Research found that nearly 40% of major US brands planned to \u201creduce Pride-related engagement in 2025\u201d and none reported plans to increase it.<\/p>\n David Reibstein, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School, said that Cracker Barrel\u2019s logo change \u201cshould have been no big thing\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies rebrand all the time,\u201d he said, adding that he believes it likely \u201cwould have gone under the radar if it had not suddenly caught a couple people\u2019s attention and wanted to make it into a political issue\u201d.<\/p>\n Reibstein said that he has never seen a US president \u201csort of endorsing or condemning companies\u201d in the way that Trump does: \u201cTrump is an influencer, and when Trump says this company better change, if they don\u2019t, he\u2019s got a whole group of followers that are going to start boycotting that product.\u201d<\/p>\n While Reibstein doesn\u2019t believe that Cracker Barrel\u2019s rebrand was politically motivated, he said that once it caught fire online and the president got involved, the company pretty much had \u201cno alternative but to acquiesce\u201d.<\/p>\n Political pressure is also extending beyond companies, and is part of a growing effort by this administration and its allies to reshape not only company behavior but wider US cultural institutions, from the Smithsonian museums to higher education.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole Maga crowd and the followers of Trump have tremendous influence right now,\u201d Reibstein said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was supposed to be a simple rebrand \u2013 or so Cracker Barrel thought. Earlier this month, the 56-year-old southern restaurant chain known for its country-store charm and nostalgic Americana aesthetic unveiled a new look: a minimalist logo, more modern interiors and a handful of new menu items. Gone was the familiar image of \u201cUncle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1723,1747,10951,956,2170,6980,150,871],"class_list":{"0":"post-18419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-backlash","9":"tag-barrel","10":"tag-cracker","11":"tag-culture","12":"tag-influence","13":"tag-magas","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-shows"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}