The Cracker Barrel chain returns to its old logo after a short attempt last week on a streamlined rebrand in the southern food chain led to widespread anger among the conservative online and criticism of President Donald Trump.
We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel, “Cracker Barrel said in a statement of X.” We said we would listen and we have it. Our new logo goes away and our ‘old hours’ will remain. On Cracker Barrel, it has always been – and always will be – about serving delicious food, warm welcome and the kind of land hospitality that feels like family. ”
“As a proud American institution, our 70,000 hardworking employees are looking forward to welcoming you to our table soon,” the company added.
President Trump celebrated the message in a post about truth social.
“Congratulations ‘Cracker Barrel’ of changing your logo back to what it was,” the president wrote. “All your fans appreciate it a lot. Good luck into the future. Earn lots of money and most importantly, make your customers happy again!”
The controversy began last week as the chain rolled a new logo that fell its “Uncle Herschel” mascot, portraying an elderly man leaning against a barrel.
Some conservatives claimed that the change was because the long -standing southern chain had suddenly gone “woke up.”
“[W]E has to break the barrel, ”declared conservative activist Chris Rufo on Thursday.” It’s not about this particular restaurant chain – who cares – but about creating massive pressure against companies that are considering any step that may seem to be ‘wokification’. The implicit promise: Go woke up, see your stock price fall 20 percent, which is exactly what is happening now. “
“She is destroying a big American brand,” Maga influencer Benny Johnson told CNN about Cracker Barrel’s CEO, claiming the logo change had “deleted the white guy” from the company’s branding.
Soon the Trump administration joined the pile.
“Cracker Tønde has to return to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate vote) and manage the business better than ever before,” the president wrote on his social media Site Truth Social earlier on Tuesday.
“They got a billion dollars value of free advertising if they play their cards right,” he added. “Very difficult to do, but a great opportunity. Have a larger news conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a winner again.”
The Republican Party Posted on X Tuesday morning was time to “make cracker barrel fantastic again!”
The Trump administration then sent a play on the logo controversy on X with a cartoon Donald Trump leaning against a barrel next to a sign reading ‘America First’ in the brand’s signature brown and orange colors, along with the caption, “Go Woke, Go Broke.”
The Department of Energy then added to the picture in his own post and overlooked the mock-up with a black oil barrel, a reflection of the administration’s “Living, Baby, Lives” ethos to promote the production of fossil fuel.
Before today’s logo message, the Tennessee-based chain admitted that it had done a bad job of debuting the updated logo.
“If the last few days have shown us something, it’s how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel. We are really grateful for your inner voices,” the company wrote in a statement Monday. “You have also shown us that we could have done a better job of sharing who we are and who we always want to be.”
“The things people love most about our stores do not go anywhere: rocking chairs on the porch, a hot fire in the fireplace, pointing the table, unique treasures in our gift shop, and Vintage Americana with antiques pulled from our warehouse in Lebanon, Tennessee,” the company added.
Before the logo controversy, the company had struggled to reduce the revenue and throw stock prices.
After the announcement, it was about to return to its old logo, the Cracker Barrel share traded over 6 percent late Tuesday, but it remains down almost 10 percent from its position at the beginning of the month.
Outside of Cracker Barrel, the Trump administration has shown an unusual willingness to directly dictate the affairs of the big US companies.
The White House negotiated a 10 percent share in fighting for US chip producer Intel and has sought foreign revenue from the sale of NVIDIA and AMD chips to China.