An old-fashioned restaurant known for serving country-fried steak and chicken and dumplings on the side of America’s highways has become the latest flashpoint in the country’s political divide — and a fresh opportunity for US President Donald Trump to assert his power over corporate America.
Cracker Barrel, a restaurant chain founded in Tennessee in 1969, is known for Southern-style comfort food, a knick-knack market and rocking chairs out front. In 2004 the justice department accused it of racial segregation and discrimination in its restaurants, claims the group denied.
In recent months brands that are little known outside the US have experienced a fierce backlash over rebrands or adverts, with Trump and his allies often weighing in, amplifying social media uproar that has roiled share prices and drawn in Hollywood stars.
Cracker Barrel ignited a firestorm when it simplified its logo on August 19, ditching “Old Timer”, an elderly man leaning against a barrel who has long been part of its lore, in favour of a streamlined design.
The logo tweak brought to the fore a debate that had simmered in recent years over a move to offer a more inclusive culture, including an effort focused on supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
Actor James Woods told 4.9mn followers on X last week that Cracker Barrel’s LGBTQ+ efforts were a “cancer rotting the soul of a cherished restaurant”. Rightwing activist Christopher Rufo vowed he would “break the Barrel” to thwart any risk of “wokification”. Florida Congressman Byron Donalds wrote that he gave his life “to Christ in their parking lot”.
Donald Trump Jr simply posted: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel??!”.
The backlash reflects a divided America and a deeply fractured media ecosystem that the US president has leaned into. After weeks of anger and Fox News segments about the rebrand, on Tuesday he urged Cracker Barrel to reverse course.
Within hours Cracker Barrel — which is valued at $1.4bn on the stock market — complied, stating “we said we would listen, and we have”. Its stock rose 8 per cent.
Brian Wieser, an advertising consultant and former WPP executive, compared the moment to “1970s Quebec or Ireland during the Troubles”, when brands studiously avoided political controversy.
In both of those cases, “basically every brand stayed away from it, absolutely did not want to touch it. It was: ‘whatever you say, say nothing’.”
However social media has drastically changed the media landscape, allowing ordinary people to hijack brand messaging, he said.
“Marketers back then had complete control over their brands . . . but in this era, due to social media, individuals