The after-church crowd as soon as flocked to Cracker Barrel for conventional, heart-stopping consolation meals like hen fried steak, served in a setting full of rustic, down-home décor. However Cracker Barrel appears to have forgotten who its buyer base was.
The corporate has redesigned its interiors, stripping away a lot of the nostalgia and changing it with a brighter, extra trendy look.
The chain additionally deserted its iconic 48-year-old brand that includes a person sitting by a barrel, opting as a substitute for a simplified design that incorporates neither a cracker nor a barrel. Like different corporations that turned their backs on their core clients within the title of being “woke,” Cracker Barrel is studying that alienating longtime patrons doesn’t win over new ones.
The woke crowd isn’t all of the sudden going to begin consuming biscuits and gravy at a rebranded Cracker Barrel.
Longtime buyer Rachel Love, whose viral TikTok sparked the controversy, stated the adjustments stripped the restaurant of its character. Different loyal clients echoed these frustrations on-line, saying Cracker Barrel now feels extra like a generic diner, and a few vowed to not return until older areas are preserved. Vietnam veteran Joseph Crawford added, “It takes away from heritage. If you’re 81 years previous, you type of bear in mind the way in which the place began. And this has taken away from it.”
Byron Donalds declared, “Nobody requested for this woke rebrand” and added, “It’s time to Make Cracker Barrel Nice Once more,” in posts seen over 3 million instances. Activist Robby Starbuck summed up the sentiment of many critics, saying People are “sick of getting our tradition and heritage stripped from us.”
Cracker Barrel defended its rebrand, insisting that almost all suggestions has been constructive and that the remodels have been based mostly on visitor enter, although it acknowledged there may be “a vocal minority” against the adjustments. The corporate is clearly delusional as a result of none of their unique clients are going to love the adjustments.
The controversy has additionally reignited scrutiny of Cracker Barrel’s historical past with the Human Rights Marketing campaign’s Company Equality Index (CEI), which measures office insurance policies and advantages for LGBTQ+ workers. When the index debuted in 2002, Cracker Barrel obtained a rating of zero. Later that 12 months, the chain added “sexual orientation” to its record of protected traits in its employment discrimination coverage. Over the subsequent twenty years, its rating steadily improved, reaching 80 in 2021 after the corporate took a number of high-profile pro-LGBT positions.
This lengthy engagement with HRC marked a dramatic shift for a model as soon as seen as conservative. Though Cracker Barrel now says it has not participated within the CEI “for a number of years,” conservative activist Robby Starbuck factors to this historical past as proof that the corporate has drifted away from the values of its conventional base.
Shares of Cracker Barrel (CBRL) tumbled greater than 12% on Thursday, its steepest drop since April, earlier than closing down over 7%. The decline erased greater than $90 million in market worth and strengthened the “go woke, go broke” narrative.
This simply avoidable demise of a longtime model displays a broader sample of conservative shoppers revolting towards corporations they see as abandoning conventional values. Probably the most distinguished instance was Bud Gentle in 2023, when a promotion that includes transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked a boycott that worn out roughly 24% of its gross sales and toppled it from its place because the nation’s prime beer inside simply two months.
Goal additionally confronted boycotts in 2023 for promoting LGBTQ-themed merchandise, together with objects geared toward youngsters. The controversy led to a 5.4% drop in gross sales, and the corporate responded by pulling some merchandise.
Disney went woke by pushing LGBTQ+ content material in youngsters’s motion pictures, feminizing male characters, selling anti-marriage messaging, and taking progressive political stands. The outcome: field workplace bombs like Lightyear and Unusual World misplaced $300 million, huge boycotts tanked their inventory, and so they have been compelled into 7,000 layoffs and CEO adjustments.
Jaguar had an epic fail in 2024 with an advert marketing campaign that emphasised range and inclusivity with out exhibiting any vehicles. Conservative critics mocked it as “Bud Gentle 2.0” and gross sales collapsed. European registrations plunged 97.5% in April 2025 in comparison with the 12 months earlier than. The fallout contributed to 500 administration job cuts and the early retirement of Jaguar Land Rover’s CEO.
In 2018, Levi Strauss supported gun management efforts with main philanthropic donations, and in 2023 it launched LGBTQ+ campaigns that includes gender-fluid trend. CEO Chip Bergh admitted, “It’s inevitable that we’re going to alienate some shoppers,” however insisted corporations should take stands on points that matter.
Most critics imagine the true query for Cracker Barrel is whether or not the corporate can restore its bond with clients who valued its nostalgic, family-oriented identification. However a much more practical query is whether or not Cracker Barrel is prepared to confess it made a mistake and return to a picture that preserves its core buyer base. If not, this might mark the top of Cracker Barrel, as a result of drag queens don’t eat sausage biscuits and grits.
