Yes, it’s just a restaurant
Yes, online people like arguing about everything.
But there’s something worth noticing in the fuss over Cracker Barrel’s recent rebrand. The current CEO, Julie Felss Masino excitedly told morning shows that managers and staff were excited about the new items on the menu, fresh décor, and a redesigned logo. Out went the “Old Timer” and his barrel, and oh-oh spaghetti-o!
Cue outrage.
President Trump joined the online protest, saying he didn’t like it and the memes were fantastic! Even the Democrats said the rebrand “sucks”.
It’s apparent that Cracker Barrel is “country-coded” but apparently it’s also become MAGA-coded. Writer, Stephen King chalked the uproar up to MAGA voters hating change. There’s some truth to that: conservatives often say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” while progressives think humanity must “change or die”. But left-wing commentary didn’t stop there. This liberal white woman podcaster ranted that MAGA voters—especially those who “triple-Trumped”—shouldn’t be allowed near Mexican or Indian restaurants, (because they’re all racists, you see?) nominating Cracker Barrel as their designated culinary corner.
There is the tension. Conservative journalist and anti-woke attack dog, Robby Starbuck documented that Cracker Barrel has been slowly aligning with progressive ideals for a few years. Remember the “Pride” themed rocking chairs in 2023? Or when it briefly pulled Duck Dynasty merch after Phil Robertson’s public support of marriage in 2013? If liberals want conservatives to stay in their lane and just eat at Cracker Barrel while simultaneously ramp up diversity signaling, well, you see the contradiction. Part of the restaurant’s appeal is that families can eat there without being preached at about “Pride” and diversity. Here’s something progressives should get: conservatives like safe spaces, too.
The revamp seems aimed at younger, urban customers, with more minimalist dining rooms that feel like an IKEA/Starbucks hybrid. Cracker Barrel even hosted a New York City launch event with a strange mix of line dancing, rainbow-coded TikTok influencers, and samples of its classic dishes. Co-founder Tommy Lowe wasn’t impressed: “They’re trying to modernize to be like the competition. Cracker Barrel doesn’t have any competition.”
And he’s right. There’s a place for pared back monastic/spa interiors, but not every restaurant has to be modernist cold or minimal. The Barrel’s co-founder says the original mission was to lure truckdrivers off the highway for homestyle meals and service. While the old-fashioned aesthetic may be cringe to some, the backlash seems to be about more than a logo. It’s a gut reaction against creeping sameness. People may not care that much about Cracker Barrel, but it has history, it’s unique, and it’s all-American. And I think this might be the main reason for the backlash.
Pirate Wires summed up the new logo as an “erasure of some essential somethingness”. The feeling that you’re a widget; less a valued patron, more just another customer. In an age when true “third places” (not home, not work) are disappearing, Cracker Barrel’s down home vibe stands out. People are encouraged to linger and chat around a barrel, not just grab a coffee, open their laptops and tune everyone out. Maybe I’m making too much of it, but little outcrops of weirdness are a thumb in the eye of the globalist instinct to make everything interchangeable and scalable.
Cracker Barrel probably isn’t thinking that deeply. But it is thinking about customers. After a $100 million stock drop, it reverted to the old logo and quietly scrubbed woke language and “Pride” branding from its website. These are small victories, though many can’t understand it. The Guardian could only warn about the influence President Trump and highlight Cracker Barrel’s “dark history”. One professor critized the backtracking: “They’re blowing with the wind.” Funny how chasing progressive moods is never seen as selling out, but sticking to tradition is.