Cracker Barrel hosted a pop-up event on Thursday in Manhattan that included line dancing and live country music in the midst of blowback for its new simplified logo design, which removed the iconic image of Uncle Herschel leaning against a barrel.
The “A Taste of Country, Anytime” event was held in Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District, bringing southern-style comfort food and a country hospitality experience to the Big Apple.
The event featured classic Cracker Barrel menu items, rocking chairs, games, line dancing and a performance by country music singer Jordan Davis, who starred in a new commercial for the company. The closest Cracker Barrel to New York City is about 45 miles away in Mount Arlington, New Jersey.
The pop-up was part of the Tennessee-based company’s “All the More” campaign, which also includes new menu offerings at its restaurants and the widely scrutinized redesign of its logo.
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The new design marks the first time in 48 years that the logo only features text. The Old Country Store opened in 1969 with a text-only logo before adding the iconic image of the man sitting against a barrel in 1977.
“Our values haven’t changed, and the heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t changed,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to Fox Business. “And Uncle Herschel remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu. He is the face of ‘The Herschel Way,’ the foundation of how our 70,000-plus employees provide the country hospitality for which we are known.”
“Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969,” the spokesperson continued.
As part of its “All the More” campaign, the company is offering customers in the U.S. a complimentary Classic Side with any purchase on Aug. 23 and 24 at its nearly 660 locations nationwide.
“We believe in the goodness of country hospitality, a spirit that has always defined us,” Cracker Barrel chief marketing officer Sarah Moore said in the company’s announcement. “Our story hasn’t changed. Our values haven’t changed. With ‘All the More,’ we’re honoring our legacy while bringing fresh energy, thoughtful craftsmanship and heartfelt hospitality to our guests this fall.”
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But critics have torn into the company since the announcement of the modernized logo on Tuesday, and its stocks have taken a nosedive.
“There are ZERO Cracker Barrel restaurants in Manhattan, so of course that’s where Cracker Barrel decided to show off its garbage rebranding initiative,” Sean Davis, CEO of The Federalist, wrote on X. “It tells you EVERYTHING about who that company’s executives want to impress.”
Steak ‘n Shake suggested that Cracker Barrel and its CEO Julie Felss Masino were abandoning the restaurant chain’s southern charm and identity that customers were used to, saying that 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. Hence, the elimination of the ‘old-timer’ from the signage. Heritage is what got Cracker Barrel this far, and now the CEO wants to just scrape it all away,” Steak n’ Shake wrote on X.
“At Steak n Shake, we take pride in our history, our families, and American values. All are welcome. We will never market ourselves away from our past in a cheap effort to gain the approval of trend seekers,” the burger chain continued.
Country music singer John Rich asked his followers, “Will you go to Cracker Barrel now that it’s going woke? This could be a ‘Bud Light’ moment in the making…”
“WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!” Donald Trump Jr. exclaimed.
Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Cracker Barrel “there’s still time to make this right,” later writing: “Make Cracker Barrel Great Again!”
“We think the Cracker Barrel rebrand sucks too,” the Democratic Party wrote.
The new logo comes after the company updated the antique Southern feel of its interiors last year to a brighter, modern vibe, a rebranding effort that also sparked criticism from customers.
