Erik Russell labored at Cracker Barrel for a number of years. Now a model designer, he warns the corporate is committing “one of many cardinal branding sins.”
The net backlash that ensued following Cracker Barrel’s multi-million-dollar re-branding effort was much more than simply dropping an illustration of an older man in rustic clothes resting his arm on high of a wood barrel.
Cracker Barrel is much from the one firm to revamp its picture, however its choice to take action struck an surprising chord with prospects as a result of it risked erasing a cherished sense of nostalgia, in keeping with specialists.
The previous folksy picture emblem, which embodied the model’s southern hospitality for the final 56 years, was changed with a text-only design. It not solely ignited backlash however precipitated the model’s inventory value to drop. Shares of Cracker Barrel tumbled greater than 12% on Thursday, the steepest drop since April, earlier than ending the session down over 7%.
Critics stated the rebranding is a dangerous transfer for a corporation already fighting skinny margins.
In an announcement to FOX Enterprise, Cracker Barrel stated its values have not modified and that “Uncle Herschel stays entrance and middle in our eating places and on our menu.”
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“Cracker Barrel has been a vacation spot for consolation and neighborhood for greater than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the model’s emblem, which works throughout digital platforms in addition to billboards and roadside indicators, is a call-back to the unique and rooted much more within the iconic barrel form and phrase mark that began all of it again in 1969,” the corporate stated.
Signage is displayed outdoors a Cracker Barrel Previous Nation Retailer Inc. restaurant and reward store in Louisville, Kentucky (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
However, “this isn’t nearly aesthetics, It’s concerning the emotional thread {that a} emblem weaves with generations of consumers,” Lynn Smith, CEO of Lynn Smith Media & Communications, instructed FOX Enterprise. “By eradicating the traditional Uncle Herschel imagery, Cracker Barrel didn’t simply redesign a emblem, they took away a chunk of on a regular basis Americana in keeping with the client.”
Smith who has consulted with firms on disaster communications, stated it’s just like “Bud Gentle deciding they did not need to be the beer to be in frat homes, the viewers has different plans.” Smith continued, saying that “when branding touches core values that really feel private, change doesn’t really feel like progress, it looks like erasure.”
| Ticker | Safety | Final | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBRL | CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE INC. | 54.27 | -0.14 | -0.25% |
Ian Baer, founder and CEO of the advertising and marketing consultancy and strategic insights platform Sooth, agreed the backlash was by no means really concerning the emblem, calling it an “emotional shockwave.”
The brand new Cracker Barrel emblem is seen on a menu contained in the restaurant on August 21, 2025 in Homestead, Florida. ( Joe Raedle/Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
“It’s one many individuals are primed to really feel anytime a cultural icon is up to date or made extra inclusive. We’ve seen it earlier than: Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s triggered related reactions — however these manufacturers weathered the change as a result of the execution was carried out in a extremely deliberate approach,” Baer stated.
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In comparison with Cracker Barrel, these manufacturers “rigorously dealt with the narratives as a substitute of simply letting issues occur,” he added.
There are nonetheless many instances by which emblem adjustments cross quietly as a result of they don’t disrupt the emotional contract a model holds with its viewers, however Baer argued that Cracker Barrel is a unique case becasue it isn’t only a restaurant.
“It represents a selected form of Americana: custom, consolation, id,” he stated, including that “when a model like that adjustments, even subtly, it invitations interpretation: What are you altering, and why now? And extra insidiously to some: Who’re you making an attempt to attraction to?”
A baseball cap is displayed on the market inside a Cracker Barrel Previous Nation Retailer Inc. restaurant and reward store in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
Any change in at this time’s local weather is learn via a cultural lens, in keeping with Baer.
“We’re at some extent the place not taking a facet is taking a facet — and which means even a design tweak can really feel like betrayal if somebody holds a sure custom near their coronary heart.”
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When an organization re-brands itself, aesthetics and emotion are equally necessary. Whereas Walmart, Burger King, and Cadillac modernized efficiently as a result of they stayed emotionally grounded, Jaguar misfired as a result of it tried to reinvent itself with out really understanding how its audiences had advanced — or hadn’t, he added.
“My recommendation to any model: Spend money on understanding your prospects — not simply yours, but additionally your prospects and even your opponents’. That form of perception doesn’t get rid of threat, however it does flip wild playing cards into calculated bets,” he stated.
