Add the Cracker Barrel guy to the list of brand icons who’ve been kicked to the curb by some woke marketing genius at a big company. At least this time, the wokies are getting rid of an old white guy instead of a black man, a black woman, and a Native American.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, baby!
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel launched its first new logo since 1977 — without Uncle Herschel — to top off its $700 million rebranding effort. That includes much more than a logo. It means taking the iconic Americana stuff off the wood-paneled walls and replacing it with a “brighter, more contemporary look” sterilized modern feel, which has been happening in its 650 locations over the past few months.
It’s like Cracker Barrel was taken over by Dolores Umbridge pic.twitter.com/TyiGTNDyYF
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) August 21, 2025
So, how did the logo go over?
“The stock, down 16.47%, is on pace for its worst five-day stretch since Feb. 14, when it dropped 17.7%,” reports Fox Business. It plunged $200 million in value before recovering some of that yesterday. We’ll see if sales do the same thing.
Cracker Barrel may specialize in fried Southern comfort food, but CEO Julie Felss Masino sure was doing a lot of gaslighting. “Honestly, the feedback’s been overwhelmingly positive that people like what we’re doing,” she insisted. “The feedback and the buzz is so good, not only from our customers, but from our team members.”
What echo chamber is she living in? Honestly.
The company statement included more gaslighting, insisting that the new logo “is now rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.” Uh, you literally removed the barrel.
The rebrand has not only been a stock disaster but a laughing stock on social media. The memes keep churning like butter, and the outrage is flowing like so much sausage gravy. And the mockery is well deserved.
Heck, even the Democrats posted on X, “We think the Cracker Barrel rebrand sucks too.”
Cracker Barrel may be Southern and its customers average Americans, but the company has been going woke for years. For example, for more than a decade, it’s been a perennial “proud sponsor” of the Human (read: Homosexual) Rights Campaign Nashville Equality Dinner. According to woke-buster Robby Starbuck, “The HRC worked extremely hard to elect Kamala and constantly attacks Republicans. The HRC also supports sex changes for kids and men in women’s bathrooms/locker-rooms.” Likewise, Cracker Barrel sponsors Nashville Pride, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that’s not about the city’s NFL team. The same woke agenda is present in the company’s numerous DEI initiatives.
Starbuck promises a video later today with more inside information.
You may also recall way back in 2014, when then-Cracker Barrel CEO Sandra Cochran ordered Duck Dynasty merchandise out of the company store. The blowback was so fierce that she backtracked in less than 48 hours. Talk about not knowing your customer base. And yet the current marketing changes are more of the same out-of-touch nonsense.
If you’re trying to “modernize” Cracker Barrel, you clearly don’t understand Cracker Barrel. The whole point is nostalgia for a simpler time in Grandma’s kitchen, not the latest Joanna Gaines renovation. It’s an identity crisis.
Some may be tempted to think the comparisons to Bud Light are overwrought because the beer giant was so overtly political in its self-sabotage. To my eye, though, getting rid of Uncle Herschel and all his garage tools is every bit as woke because the company CEO and other corporate players are so clearly invested in DEI, and an old white guy on the sign just won’t do.
