After major backlash over plans to change its logo, décor, and menu, Cracker Barrel is reconsidering its rebrand.
The famous southern home-cooking restaurant and general store has announced it will return to its longtime logo and has also somewhat scaled back its LGBTQ support on its website.
Will Hild, executive director of Consumers' Research, says it might not seem like this "milquetoast, minimalist, homogeneous culture" is related to the politics in the corporate world, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
"The move towards this much more minimalist logo, the updated decor that everyone hated, and really all of the changes that they were making to the menu and to the operations at Cracker Barrel are connected to the more political woke stuff," he tells AFN.
Despite its Americana persona, Cracker Barrel has been a known supporter of the LGBTQ+ movement.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck recently listed that, among other things, the company has sponsored "all ages" events like the Nashville Pride Parade and Third River City Pride as well as the Out & Equal Workplace Summit. Pride flags also fly at the corporate office, and the company has previously unveiled a line of rainbow-colored rocking chairs for June.
Additionally, Cracker Barrel has an employee resource group called the "LGBTQ+ Alliance," and up until what Fox Business calls its "rebranding fiasco," the company's website featured a Pride page, which boasted "bringing the porch to Pride."
That link now redirects to a "Culture and Belonging" page.
"You have a ton of asset managers on Wall Street – firms like BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, who've committed themselves to selecting corporate executives because of their politics and their race and sex," Hild relays.
He notes an "infamous clip" from 2017 of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink talking about how they are "forcing behaviors to change" to meet race- and sex-based quotas in every company.
In Cracker Barrel's case, Hild says there was "absolutely no reason to think" that CEO Julie Felss Masino would be good for that branch.
"Her previous job was Yum Brands, running Taco Bell basically," he notes. "It's not the worst food in the world, but most people certainly don't consider it to have a lot of soul or character to It, which is the opposite of Cracker Barrel."
Fifteen percent of Cracker Barrel stock is controlled by BlackRock, which makes Hild wonder if Masino was voted in to appease Larry Fink and the other woke asset managers.
Meanwhile, consumers have been pushed to the brink.
"The reservoir of consumer frustration against corporate America for the ways that it is constantly poking its own consumers in the eye is really the news story," Hild submits. "Consumers should feel absolutely empowered."
Seeing the difference the pushback made in this case and with Bud Light and Target, he foresees shockwaves on Wall Street and predicts wokeness will start being viewed as a financial risk factor.
It will take time, because corporate America is slow to change; but as it is also very risk-averse, Hild encourages consumers to flex this muscle more often.
"Consumers do not owe loyalty to brands; brands owe loyalty to consumers," he tells AFN. "They betrayed that loyalty, and they were made to feel the weight of that, and they've reversed course. This is a great story."
