The Cracker Barrel restaurant chain addressed the online opposition to its rebrand by first returning to its old logo, and now the company’s taking up the remodeling of its classic interiors.
The restaurant was known for packing its interiors with old country store items, but the new aesthetic was far more sleek and updated. Many saw it as a betrayal of the 55-year-old brand’s history.
‘We hope that today’s step reinforces that we hear you.’
“You’ve shared your voices in recent weeks not just on our logo, but also on our restaurants. We’re continuing to listen. Today, we’re suspending our remodels,” reads the company’s statement posted to X on Tuesday.
“If your restaurant hasn’t been remodeled, you don’t need to worry, it won’t be,” it added. “With our recent announcement that our ‘Old Timer’ logo will remain, along with our bigger focus in the kitchen and on your plate, we hope that today’s step reinforces that we hear you.”
The company had also previously deleted sections on its website that endorsed the LGBTQ agenda, including a statement of support for the Nashville Pride Parade.
Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The company’s CEO, Julie Felss Masino, said in an interview on “Good Morning America” in August that the response to the rebranding was “overwhelmingly positive,” but that claim was not shared by online critics. The social media response included calls for a boycott for what many saw as a “woke” campaign.
“Woke ideology has changed our country in countless ways, some of which we may never get back. But Cracker Barrel has always represented the one thing I think so many Americans currently crave: NOSTALGIA,” Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck said. “You go to Cracker Barrel for the rocking chairs outside, the meals that taste like grandma’s home cooking, and the simple game of Chinese checkers on the table.”
He added, “‘Rebrand’ all of that to something more modern, something more inclusive, and something that erases those feelings, and you’re ‘rebranding’ the SOLE reason why anyone goes there to begin with.”
The stock price for the company dropped by about 15% initially after the outrage and then regained some of that valuation. The stock has lost about 20% of its value since the rebrand outrage until this newest announcement.
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Cracker barrel caves, Cracker barrel backlash, Woke rebranding, Rebranding controversy, Politics
