Topline
President Donald Trump said Cracker Barrel should “go back to the old logo” after the restaurant chain sparked consumer backlash for adopting a text-only logo, ditching the man leaning on a barrel, leading critics to accuse the company of abandoning its classic American Southern feel.
Trump said in a Tuesday morning Truth Social post the restaurant chain should “admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before,” suggesting it could earn “a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right.”
The White House later posted an edited image of Trump as the man in the former Cracker Barrel logo, leaning on a barrel next to text that reads “America First” and “America Is Back.”
Trump’s post comes one day after the restaurant chain acknowledged the backlash, stating it is “truly grateful” for how “deeply people care about Cracker Barrel” and that the chorus of voices who criticized the new logo “have shown us that we could’ve done a better job sharing who we are and who we’ll always be.”
In its statement, the company said its values have not changed, and it clarified Uncle Herschel, the man pictured on its previous logo, will still be featured in menus, road signs and in Cracker Barrel’s country stores.
Cracker Barrel, which has already been remodeling some stores to give them a brighter and more modern feel, announced its logo redesign last week, stating in a press release the new logo is “rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all,” referring to Cracker Barrel’s original text-only brand in 1969.
But some conservative social media users had strong reactions to the new logo, including Donald Trump Jr., who posted on X Wednesday night: “WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!”
Trump Jr. made his post in response to another user who blamed Cracker Barrel’s CEO Julie Felss Masino, stating she “scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding” while also criticizing the company for its diversity, equity and inclusion commitments.
Cracker Barrel previously defended the new logo in a statement to Forbes as a “call-back to the original,” adding the “heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t changed” and that Uncle Herschel, the man on the previous logo, “remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu.”
Cracker Barrel’s Monday statement did not appear to quell consumer backlash to its new logo. Many responses on Instagram were highly critical: “The biggest insult to your customers is acting like you hear them but doing the complete opposite,” the top-liked comment reads, with more than 5,000 likes. Lawyer Rogan O’Handley, a popular right-wing commentator with more than 3 million Instagram followers, also commented, urging the company to “stop spitting in our faces and telling us it’s sweet tea” and to “bring back the old logo.”
Many popular right-wing X accounts united against Cracker Barrel, including End Wokeness, an account with nearly 4 million followers that frequently torches brands for going “woke.” “Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino should face charges for this crime against humanity,” End Wokeness posted Wednesday night, garnering 50,000 likes. Country singer John Rich, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, said on X Wednesday night: “Will you go to Cracker Barrel now that it's going woke? This could be a ‘Bud Light’ moment in the making…” referencing the 2023 conservative-led boycott against beer company Bud Light after it briefly collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Benny Johnson, a conservative political commentator who has 5.5 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a video Wednesday night alleging Cracker Barrel has gone “woke,” slamming Masino as an “insufferable left-wing elitist” and calling the revamp the “destruction of a great American brand.” The official X account for the Democratic Party also posted: “We think the Cracker Barrel rebrand sucks too.” Restaurant chain Steak ‘n Shake took a shot at Cracker Barrel in an X post: “Sometimes, people want to change things just to put their own personality on things. At CB, their goal is to just delete the personality altogether,” adding, “Heritage is what got Cracker Barrel this far, and now the CEO wants to just scrape it all away.”
Cracker Barrel announced plans for a brand refresh last year in response to some diners being slow to return to the restaurant after the Covid-19 pandemic. The Wall Street Journal reported the restaurant had struggled to regain its 65-plus diners, among its most loyal customers, and hoped to also attract a younger crowd. Masino, who stepped in as CEO in August 2023, said in a call with investors in May 2024 the brand is “just not as relevant as we once were.” Masino said the chain would roll out new menu items and remodel restaurants to feature a “different color palette, updating lighting, offering more comfortable seating and simplifying decor and fixtures.” The Journal reported in May Cracker Barrel had remodeled four restaurants, with plans to remodel an additional 25 to 30 of its 660 locations by the end of this summer. Masino claimed in an interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday she has received positive feedback on the remodelings from customers and store managers. In the announcement of its new logo Monday, Cracker Barrel announced new fall menu options and a collaboration with country singer Jordan Davis, who will host an event in New York City on Thursday. “Our story hasn’t changed. Our values haven’t changed,” Cracker Barrel’s chief marketing officer Sarah Moore said, adding the company is “honoring our legacy while bringing fresh energy, thoughtful craftsmanship and heartfelt hospitality to our guests this fall.”
This isn’t the first time Cracker Barrel has faced right-wing outrage. In 2023, the restaurant chain faced backlash during Pride Month after it made posts on social media celebrating its LGBTQ customers. The Texas Family Project, a conservative organization, said in a post on X: “We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen,” which became a widely memed phrase. The company had openly supported Pride Month for several years, and still maintains a commitment to LGBTQ customers on its website, though the company faced controversy in the 1990s for urging locations in a company memo to not hire people “whose sexual preference fails to demonstrate normal heterosexual values.”
Cracker Barrel CEO announces 'All the More' campaign with Jordan Davis, hints at menu innovation (ABC News)