Verdict: President Trump abused his position, power and influence by weighing in on a private company’s choice of logo and continuing to make declarations about it as if it is any of his business or a proper matter of concern for the President of the United States.
This continuing conduct by the President, regardless of how popular it is in some (ignorant) quarters, ought to be condemned, reviled and rejected every time he engages in it, which is, sadly, frequently. This is king-like behavior. Given some bad role models among his predecessors (notably George H.W. Bush and Obama), I’ll sort of excuse him for being sucked into the practice, but he still should know better. It is also an obvious Golden Rule breach: I am quite certain that real estate/hotel mogul Trump would have gone ballistic if a President dared to publicly criticize any of his business decisions. And he would have been right to react that way.
While I’m here, I might as well also rule that Cracker Barrel management, not for the first time, has revealed itself as a pandering, gutless, principle-free, soulless, pathetic bunch of weenies. First it issues this pusillanimous pseudo mea culpa:
This reads,
If the last few days have shown us anything, it’s how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel. We’re truly grateful for your heartfelt voices.
You’ve also shown us that we could’ve done a better job sharing who we are and who we’ll always be. What has not changed, and what will never change, are the values this company was built on when Cracker Barrel first opened in 1969: hard work, family, and scratch-cooked food made with care. A place where everyone feels at home, no matter where you’re from or where you’re headed. That’s the Cracker Barrel you’ll always find.The things people love most about our stores aren’t going anywhere: rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table, unique treasures in our gift shop, and vintage Americana with antiques pulled straight from our warehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee.We love seeing how much you care about our ‘old timer.’ We love him too. Uncle Herschel will still be on our menu (welcome back Uncle Herschel’s Favorite Breakfast Platter), on our road signs and featured in our country store. He’s not going anywhere — he’s family.While our logo and remodels may be making headlines, our bigger focus is still right where it belongs… in the kitchen and on your plate: serving generous portions of the food you crave at fair prices and doing it with the kind of country hospitality that brightens your days and creates lasting memories.
…and then, incredibly, backed down and went back to the old logo!
I’ve never eaten at a Cracker Barrel, but even if I had, this would be enough to keep me away forevermore.
Ethics Alarms 
As somebody who is a monarchist and not a Republican, may I offer an unusual proposal for Ethics Alarms, namely that we grant him the King’s pass instead of the ethics dunce cap. I know, ethics rationalizations, but there is an exception to everything. Trump, as the most brilliant troll since Diogenes, deserves an award that is positive in nature. I had a great laugh this morning when I saw all the memes related to Cracker Barrel including those of Donald Trump, and was wondering who would get angry about Trump’s tweets. Trump knows how to use modern media such as X and podcasts as JFK used television and FDR used radio.
There is one thing for sure, Trump knows how to communicate a positive American cultural message, as he is robustly patriotic. One of the tasks of POTUS is to make people feel proud about this country and its culture; this is part of the kingly aspect of the presidency. This is why he deserves the King’s pass.
I agree with you that Trump had no business opining on this subject in his official capacity, and given his position, there is no realistic “personal capacity” to be had. Like it or not, his every pronouncement carries the presumption of his official position.
Cracker Barrel is reacting like every other corporate entity who, through a combination of ignorance and hubris, treads mud on their brand. It happens pretty often — some brands recover and some don’t.
As far as their weenie-like comments, well, when was the last time you saw a brand in a similar situation stand up and say, “Sorry, we blew it. We were dunces who did a poor job of remembering who our customers are and what they want. We foolishly listened to people we hired to advise us instead of you, our customer, and our corporate culture was out of touch with the people we intend to serve. We will correct our error and do better.”
Okay, I’ll say it for you — NEVER.
Ultimately, they did the right thing. Will their customers forgive them? Maybe. I will, only because they appear to have returned to their status quo. Their investors should demand that their marketing consultants refund every dime, and hold the board to account.
Trump rightly pointed out (again, right or wrong, not his place to comment) that CB can turn this into a positive if they are careful and smart. Given the complete own goal they just scored on themselves, I doubt if they have the savvy to avail themselves of his advice. If CB had put the energy and money into improving service and food, they would’ve done themselves a favor.
I have long been a customer of CB, although I can’t say I eat there very often. CB is very much an upscale Waffle House, and they inhabit the very same ecosystem — Interstate exits. Generally, if we feel compelled to stop and eat, CB is always the just-in-case choice if there are no better options on the exit or the better option is crowded. It is also a favorite of after-church crowds in the South, much like Picadilly Cafeteria was back in the late 1990’s.
CB is unlikely to ever appeal to younger, healthier-eating generations. It’s raison d’etre has ever been nostalgic comfort food, which is currently less popular than in years past. They are in kind of a niche, but it is a persistent niche. There will always be Interstate exits and associated chain hotel/motels. All they need to do is be better than most offerings in that niche for at least one or two meals, and they will survive. Who knows, perhaps the old country store nostalgia will return one day. Very often, what was old is new again in America.
Bingo, Glenn. Well said.
Jack: “I’ve never eaten at a Cracker Barrel, but even if I had, this would be enough to keep me away forevermore.”
I don’t know. If the product is good, I won’t let incompetent leadership keep me away. If your product is food and the food is good, I don’t care as much about stupid decisions at the top. The mistake made by Cracker Barrel’s leadership was they did not realize that their product was not just food. They had a trade dress that was an important part of the product.
-Jut
Maybe, “Forget it, Jack. It’s Trump,” is appropriate? Like Jackson and TR, this guy is just a different breed of cat.
When have we ever had a president who ran a reality TV show about running businesses? This Cracker Barrel screw-up is right up his alley. I suspect if a president had tried to give him business advice when he was a private citizen, Trump would have said, “Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate it.” And then, if the advice was nonsense, he’d just have ignored it. He can often be gracious.
Memory fails me. what did George H.W. Bush do that was similar?
Several, but the worst was shooting off his mouth about the Rodney King video.
Cracker Barrel is still a woke company run by woke activists, but the kind whose DEI programs have been renamed to something other than “DEI” so they can pretend to be all about Americana. They aren’t and haven’t been since even before the current CEO took over.
Mrs. Zechman likes going there quite a bit. Me . . . less so. The food and service quality has definitely declined over the years. THAT is what they need to focus on, not logos.
Cracker Barrel’s problem isn’t their logo, their decor, or even their image. Their problem is that (going back to the recent Verizon/AOL post) they’ve run themselves all the way to the end part of the “enshittification cycle” where they’ve diluted and polluted the product they sell in the name of short-term profits for so long that they’ve chased customers away. Unless they can realize this and turn it around (by . . . {shudder} . . . spending money to improve quality at the cost of reduced short-term profits), they’re just going to go the way of countless other restaurant chains and . . . maybe not go bankrupt, but certainly become irrelevant and forgotten.
The bigger the company, the harder it is for them to realize this and turn it around.
–Dwayne
P.S. Have you been to a Big Boy restaurant lately? No, me neither.
Back from vacation. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Kentucky on the way home from Georgia (Jimmy Carter burial site! Andersonville Historic Site! Warm Springs!). The sign with the original logo was still there, but it was a remodeled restaurant on the inside.
I don’t have a horse in this race. Cracker Barrel isn’t even in the top ten of my favorite places to eat. The food was sufficient – I had the (NEW!) roasted chicken with sides of mashed potatoes and corn – and the service was competent.
The restaurant was brighter. There was still countrified stuff on the walls, the store part was still stocked with old-fashioned candy, pricey collectibles and cheap novelties. The white paint made it so much easier to see and made the place look like there was more space.
So, maybe the CEO is a woke white woman who wants to “decolonize” the franchise (whatever the heck that means), but I didn’t find myself marginalized as a customer because of the changes. Maybe I just don’t take such things personally. Or maybe I just appreciated a good old-fashioned server instead of an ordering kiosk (curse you, McDonald’s!).