Cracker Barrel’s revamp, unveiled Tuesday, has gone down like a lead balloon. Removing the image from its logo in favor of simply the restaurant name, and changing the appearance of its country stores has enraged fans far and wide. It’s reminiscent of the months following the George Floyd riots where it was hard to keep up with all the changes companies were making to appease the cancel culture/BLM crowd. Aunt Jemima, gone. Uncle Ben, wiped off the box. How these moves made progress toward “racial equality” still remains a mystery, but the decisions to rebrand were done in response to demands from the woke mob. Cracker Barrel, however, was most assuredly not staring down a pressure campaign from old-timers. It was apparently a step toward modernization no one wanted.
In its statement, the company claims the rebrand positions Cracker Barrel “for the future,” but as shown by the reactions to the updates, it’s not the future customers want. It’s the sense of nostalgia and tradition that made going to Cracker Barrel special, and now that’s gone.
In a statement to Fox News, Cracker Barrel insisted its “values haven’t changed” and that “Uncle Herschel remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu. He is the face of ‘The Herschel Way,’ the foundation of how our 70,000-plus employees provide the country hospitality for which we are known.
“Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969,” the statement added.
Despite CEO Julie Masino claiming she’s hearing so much positive feedback, the numbers don’t lie.
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Shares of Cracker Barrel tumbled more than 12% on Thursday, the steepest drop since April.
The stock, down 16.47%, is on pace for its worst five-day stretch since Feb. 14, when it dropped 17.7%. Cracker Barrel’s stock fell to $52, down more than $6, or about 11%, marking its lowest level since mid-June. Shares gained slightly to $53.48 by the afternoon. (New York Post)
