Cracker Barrel is receiving what critics are calling a “Bud Light” moment after it announced a logo change.
In a press release for its new fall campaign, the restaurant chain said “updated visuals will appear across menus and marketing collateral, including the fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which is now rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.”
“We believe in the goodness of country hospitality, a spirit that has always defined us. Our story hasn’t changed. Our values haven’t changed,” said Cracker Barrel’s Chief Marketing Officer, Sarah Moore. “With ‘All the More,’ we’re honoring our legacy while bringing fresh energy, thoughtful craftsmanship and heartfelt hospitality to our guests this fall.”
Amid uproar caused by the logo change, which removes Uncle Hershel beside the barrel, Cracker Barrel told Newsweek, “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 company said.
The widespread backlash against Cracker Barrel has been compared to Bud Light’s 2023 campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Country music singer John Rich commented on X, “Will you go to Cracker Barrel now that it’s going woke? This could be a ‘Bud Light’ moment in the making…”
Burger chain Steak ‘n Shake weighed in on the matter, saying, “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,” the chain wrote, stating that they will “never market ourselves away from our past in a cheap effort to gain the approval of trend seekers.”
After announcing its rebrand, Cracker Barrel lost more than $90 million in market value.
