Wow. Just when I thought the Left’s outrage machine had reached new levels of absurdity over an attractive white woman advertising bluejeans by using a very old play on words (Jeff Goldblum uses the same one in “Jurassic Park”),the Right’s outrage machine says “Hold my beer!”
Cracker Barrel stripped its old logo of both its barrel and its “cracker,” and all of a sudden it was Bud Light all over again. The company’s stock even crashed. How the decision could possibly be seen as some kind of kowtow to wokeness is beyond me, and should be beyond everyone who isn’t Woke Deranged.
The old logo was archaic, messy and unattractive. Okay, so the old guy sitting by the barrel looked white, but he was yellow, for heaven’s sake. This isn’t like removing Uncle Ben or Aunt Jemima, or that naughty Native American lass whose Land O’ Lakes box could be rigged to make a wallet peep show. I’d compare the Cracker Barrel change to Kentucky Fried Chicken becoming KFC, and no one freaked out over that, though, admittedly, it transpired before both conservatives and progressives had gone nuts in their distrust of each other.
The one aspect of this nothingcracker that supports the fevered conspiracy theory on the Right is the Cracker Barrel management’s deplorable past record as a pandering, cowardly, principle-free bunch of weenies.
Here is the Ethics Alarms post (from 2020) about the last time this company entered the culture wars. I still haven’t forgiven it.
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The Plague Of Corporate Weenies: Cracker Barrel Strikes Again!
When last we left Cracker Barrel restaurants, the chain’s management was flip-flopping like mad as it tried to figure out which “principles” would alienate the fewest customers.
In 2013, reacting to A&E’s craven PC punishment of Phil Robertson of cable’s Duck Dynasty clan for expressing the basic religious convictions of millions of Americans regarding homosexuality in response to an GQ interviewer’s question, Cracker Barrel pulled its products with Phil’s likeness, saying in a statement,
“Cracker Barrel’s mission is Pleasing People. We operate within the ideals of fairness, mutual respect and equal treatment of all people. These ideals are the core of our corporate culture…. We removed selected products which we were concerned might offend some of our guests while we evaluate the situation.”
My translation of this weaselly screed:
‘We at Cracker Barrel have no principles whatsoever. We are a blank slate; we go with the flow. There is no right or wrong for us: whatever position we feel we have to hold to get the most people to buy our products, you can count on us. If 51% of America begins worshiping Baal, hey, sacrifice a goat for in our name, because we’re all in. If the majority want to ban, hey, anything or anyone, we’re in full agreement. We aim to please, in any way that helps our bottom line.’
Sure enough, as soon as it looked like the tide of public opinion was turning against GLAAD and other LBGTQ activists in their effort to “cancel” a member of a large religious community for expressing his beliefs, Cracker Barrel turned on a dime, and bleated,
“When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that’s just what we’ve done. You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong. We listened. Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores. And, we apologize for offending you.”
I wrote at the time,
“I can respect a company that takes a stand for gay rights and against denigration of gay Americans, at the risk of alienating the religious right. I can respect a company that believes in open dialogue on all topics and tolerance for opposing views, and that conducts its business accordingly. I respect an organization that stands behind freedom of religion and religious tolerance.“
I have no respect for Cracker Barrel whatsoever. Who cares whether such a feckless company is on their “side” or not?
It’s good to know Cracker Barrel’s management has maintained its stance: they still have no principles, can be bullied with ease, and possess as much spine as a typical annelid worm. If being reliable weenies in any controversy is a kind of integrity, I guess they have it.
On November 7, guests at an East Windsor, Connecticut Cracker Barrel restaurant saw an item among the antique tools, boxes, utensils and other decorations in the establishment that reminded them of a noose. Since it reminded them of a noose, and blacks were once lynched using nooses, then obviously the noose-like decoration was a deliberate dog-whistle for racists. Or something. Some customers posted photos and videos on social media, probably all a-tingle because they had a “Gotcha!” that could bring a corporation to its knees in full grovel. The noose-like object had been there for years, but Joe Biden appears to have been elected, Black Lives Matter is ascendant, and now the perpetually offended and cancel mobs are ready to pounce. Watch what you say! Watch what you hang from the ceiling!
Cracker Barrel, spineless as ever, apologized on social media…
“We’re sorry this happened. This antique electric soldering iron has an original wrapped cord that should not have been displayed. We have removed the item from our East Windsor store. Many thanks to the guest who notified us of this so that we could correct our error.“
…and elaborated to CNN, saying, “The décor item — an antique soldering iron with an original wrapped cord — in our East Windsor store should have been noticed and corrected before ever being displayed, and it has since been removed.We are grateful to our guest who pointed it out to us so we could correct this mistake. We work hard to create a culture of hospitality that’s welcoming, respectful and inclusive to everyone who walks through our doors,” the company said.
Of course, it wasn’t enough. Tamra Hawkins went to the East Windsor Cracker Barrel on November 8 and posted a video of the store’s decorations on Facebook.
She told CNN she’s eaten at that Cracker Barrel, which is about 15 miles north of Hartford, at least four or five times a month for the last five years. Hawkins didn’t see the cord while she was shooting the video but was outraged when commenters pointed out that it was there. She told CNN she didn’t believe the company’s explanation and did not accept the apology. “I would respect it more if they took ownership with poor taste in judgment in the prop being on display,” Hawkins said.
What Cracker Barrel and every other company that gets attacked like this for contrived racial insensitivity has an obligation to do is refuse to apologize, because it emboldens bullies, censors and totalitarians. “That was not a noose,” the company should have stated, and we are profoundly insulted that unscrupulous activists, looking to divide society and to create fear and hate, would impugn our dedication to American principles by suggesting that it was. Those who see racism everywhere make it more difficult to call bigotry out where it really lies.”
I still have no respect for Cracker Barrel, or anyone else who, as to paraphrase playwright Lillian Hellman, “cuts their conscience to fit this year’s fashions.”
Ethics Alarms 
JM: I still have no respect for Cracker Barrel, or anyone else who, as to paraphrase playwright Lillian Hellman, “cuts their conscience to fit this year’s fashions.” So corporations are imputed to have a “conscience” now? The fiction of corporations having “personhood” certainly has staying power!
Fair point, but some corporations have less integrity than others. I’d put CB near the bottom, or even “the bottom of the barrel.”
Values are important to a brand. Here we need to think about values broadly, including a company’s approach to quality, price, and, customer service. It may include cultural and ethical values, such as environment, animal treatment, labor practices. Take e.g. a vegan restaurant. Of course they should embody progressive values on environment and animal treatment. But it would not hurt for such a restaurant to have visible pride flags, given that the typical clientele appreciates this type of messaging. So being proactive on these values is good for business; the business targets a market segment that identifies with certain cultural values.
A company can also take a more defensive on certain values, simply in order not to alienate part of its customer base. So a chain restaurant that is popular in rural areas and red states may choose not to engage in LGTBQ+ messaging for that reason.
Okay integrity as adherence to a defined set of values or standards does make more sense to me than for a collective entity.
This set of values/standards can be moral or artistic (or both, I guess). We can also think of a corporation as an institution that can have structural integrity / consistency / completeness versus incoherence or incompleteness or corruption. So a building can have structural integrity (or not) and/or architectural integrity (or not) and we are concerned with data integrity as well.
I like this take, and CVB’s notion of consistency in embodied/enacted culture/values.
Re the general outrage manufacturing complex, I’m going to guess if those expressing outrage were asked how emotionally attached they were to the Cracker Barrel logo BEFORE the design, the response would have been mostly “meh.” I suspect the stronger attachment was to the “look and feel” of the kitschy (allegedly — quick break to check interwebs — I live in one of only 6 states that are not blessed with its presence!) interior and experience.
More broadly, I’m going to propose that one of the drivers of the right-focused outrage machine is fear/anxiety/trepidation about cultural change, and the longer something (even a kitschy restaurant with apparently not-so-great food, so really, no actual moral component here) has been part of one’s locale, the more threatening any change seems. (The left-focused outrage machine, of course, runs on different fuel, as amply documented in many posts on this blog).
“The left-focused outrage machine, of course, runs on different fuel, as amply documented in many posts on this blog“
That gave me a chuckle, Holly, on a day I needed one.
That fuel; solar and wind, am I right…?
PWS
Definitely not coal! Bacterial decomposition produces swamp gas — and there’s no shortage of noxious garbage as a source…
“Forget it, Jack. It’s the South.”
Cue Jeff Foxworthy: “If you’ve ever been anywhere near Cracker Barrel…”
As we’ve discussed before, the term Cracker is usually referenced with a Schrödinger’s Douchebag back-stop.
A 01/2012 exchange between Politico’s Jonathan Martin and MSNBC’s Chuck Todd: “Chuck, a lot of the counties in the Panhandle, in north Florida, the cracker counties, if you will…more resemble Georgia and Alabama than they do Florida.”
Highfreakin’larious back-peddling/side-stepping ensued.
A year-n-a-half later, Trayvon Martin pal Rachel Jeantel testified that Martin referred to George Zimmerman as a “creepy-ass cracker,” leading one to believe that the term includes, but is not limited to, “White Hispanics.”
To which (IMO) Über Lefty moron Tommy Christopher jumps the shark by saying: “although the term (cracker) is derogatory in much of the country, in Florida, it’s a source of pride.” It symbolizes a “rich cowboy heritage.”
Anyone saying something like that will lie to you about other things, too.
PWS
I have to admit that I have never eaten at Cracker Barrel.
My impression is that the reception of logo change is more a marketing issue than an ethics issue.
In the eighties and nineties a lot of companies created beautiful and intricate logos that looked good on paper; it drew attention of people who read newspapers and passed buildings. In other worlds it created visibility, and curiosity. This was a move a way from the dull logos that only had the company name in big (neon) letters. A logo has to say something, and give the company an identity, a face. A clear brand gives people a desire to give a company business.
The last ten years there has been a move away from those intricate pictorial logos; the logos are getting simpler. The reason for this is because the importance of mobile phones.
The problem I see with the new logo is that it strips away all the things that gave Cracker Barrel its unique identity, namely a place that is as American as mom, apple pie, and the American flag. The new Cracker Barrel logo simply looks boring.
This logo changes confirms other changes in the last year that alienated customers, as I understand from the Federalist:
https://thefederalist.com/2025/08/21/cracker-barrel-is-dead-and-its-stupid-woke-ceo-killed-it-with-gay-nonsense/
After the corporate rebranding (with new logo) Cracker Barrel has simply become just another nondescript and boring restaurant chain with bland food.
The stock price of Cracker Barrel has been dropping since the logo change; this is the market telling that they expect a decline in profits.
You aren’t missing out. And the Federalist is wrong- Cracker Barrel food quality went down more like mid-to-early-2010s. It wasn’t part of the general decrease in quality associated with Covid, it was already there. I haven’t eaten in one for about 10 years because it wasn’t just a gradual decrease but something pretty noticeable.
I doubt I’m missing out on anything.
“Outrage” is definitely an overreaction, but let’s face it: that new logo looks like it was slammed out by an engineer or an accountant at 4:30 PM, on the Friday before a long weekend.
Never having been inside one, I’d say, from the few pictures I have seen of an original Cracker Barrel store, they are/were simply a kitschy place for people who liked kitsch. The new interior photos make it look like a bland, corporate, standard issue interior for a mid-priced chain restaurant. I think the response is quite a bit of “why can’t kitschy people have kitschy restaurants?” (Much the same way as I feel about women broadcasting men’s sports as color commentators. “Why can’t men have guys’ places anymore?”)
Just did a little reading on the CB customer demographics and post-Covid decline. Looks like pre-Covid the over-65 crowd was a big staple, and families with young children the other (family friendly menu).
I’m guessing the kitsch was geared more toward the older generation, and when they stopped going to restaurants in the Covid era (and apparently have mostly not returned) the company got into financial trouble, and has been trying lots of things to turn things around.
Other “home-style” restaurants that went under or have been in trying-to-turn-around crisis are Friendly’s and Marie Callender’s. I think maybe Denny’s has pulled out of their nosedive (?).
So, proposal: Some of the people expressing outrage at the change to the restaurant logo have actually have mostly stopped going there and hence contributed to the urgent attempts to rebrand and reboot which led to this latest brand makeover kerfuffle.
More simply put, the Cracker Barrel demographic is dying out. I’m the youngest of my cousins on my mother’s side. Four of the seven of us are dead. There’s just me and two boys. I’m from Southeast Florida, as were my cousins, but many of them moved to Georgia or Northern Florida. Only one of the survivors is in Georgia and is likely still a Cracker Barrel aficionado (and also an enthusiastic stockholder, as I recall). So again, I think the concept has simply aged out, again, except most likely in the Deep South (see my initial comments). And corporate America messes with that demographic at its peril if they’re relying on it to any extent. The South is different.
Over the weekend, I was informed by family that the man sitting next to the barrel is either the man who founded Cracker Barrel or the uncle of the man – we were talking about it in passing so the exact details are already sketchy.
Anyways, I’m guessing that some of the backlash by conservatives is because of that…the perceived loss of the human origin of what has now become a large restaurant chain. Take this as a stereotype if you want, but I think conservatives as a whole are more active students of history and they have a greater sense of nostalgia. Things (images, words, objects) have more meaning to them, so changing those with a long history will elicit a stronger reaction.
Coupled with that is the aforementioned “humanity” factor. The image at at the top of Jack’s post displays some of them. The Land-o-Lakes Indian woman, Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth,…any number of people – real or imagined – that linked us to an era now gone…those “people” have value. They are reminders of the past…definitely not a perfect past, but a past we should all remember. And again, “Cracker Barrel” man was a real, living person at one time, not simply an image created by an artist.
On a small scale, it may feel to many conservatives like the tearing down of statues of Johnny Reb, or General Lee, or Stonewall Jackson, or Thomas Jefferson…great people from the past who may have done something that we now see as disagreeable.
Aunt Jemima – real or imagined – is a great woman, but her “statue” has been sacrificed on the altar of woke. Same with Mrs. Butterworth. The Land-o-Lakes Indian?…great woman…her statue has been “disappeared.” The man seated next to the barrel may also be seen by restaurant patrons as great…and now his statue has been torn down as well.
Just some randomness on a Monday morning…