cracker

Well, that was fast.

Just one week after revealing a new logo that was nearly universally panned, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL 8.01%) announced on Tuesday that it was scrapping its plans to change the logo. On Wednesday, the company’s shares — which had tumbled more than 10% after the new logo was revealed — had rebounded by 8.0% by the time the closing bell rang.

For investors who bought the dip, it’s a pretty good outcome. But is it too late for everyone else to buy in?

Why shares were down

On Aug. 19, Cracker Barrel launched a fall campaign it dubbed “All the More.” It was mostly a pretty standard seasonal restaurant campaign. It announced a partnership with country music star Jordan Davis and introduced some seasonal fall menu items like a cinnamon roll skillet and Uncle Herschel’s Favorite (“back by popular demand”).

However, the campaign also featured “updated creative,” including a change to the restaurant’s logo that removed the eponymous barrel and the iconic “old timer” figure — referred to by many as “Uncle Herschel” — leaving only an orange background and the words “Cracker Barrel.”

The backlash was immediate and intense, with many criticizing the stripped-down logo as generic or too reminiscent of other restaurant logos, such as Denny’s or Golden Corral. On Tuesday, even President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social, “Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before.”

Despite the negative reactions, Cracker Barrel initially doubled down on its logo decision, with a spokesperson saying the feedback had been “overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic about the refreshed dining and shopping experience” (a statement which, you’ll notice, pointedly does not say anything about feedback regarding the logo specifically), and attributing the backlash to a “vocal minority.”

However, by Tuesday, shortly after President Trump’s post, the company changed its tune. “We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have,” the company said. “Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain.” The new logo has been removed from the company’s website.

Does it matter for the stock?

If you believe that any publicity is good publicity, this ruckus might result in some short-term positives for the company. Cracker Barrel’s name has been in the news (and, more importantly, in the zeitgeist) for a week now, and it’s even making me hungry for hash brown casserole. Many people are praising management for its ultimate decision. This could be a golden opportunity for the company, as Trump suggested in his Truth Social post, writing: “They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity.”

Image source: Getty Images.

That publicity might increase foot traffic to Cracker Barrel’s stores in the short term, which would be a welcome boost for the company. In its most recent quarter, same-store restaurant sales increased by just 1%, while same-store retail sales declined 3.8%. Overall, revenue has been stagnant since the pandemic lockdown reopenings, only up 5.7% since 2022. Net income has slipped by more than 50% and profit margins have declined to just 1.7%.

Those metrics aren’t just bad, they’re worse than most of its peer companies, including Brinker International (EAT -3.52%), which owns Chili’s and Maggiano’s; and Darden Restaurants (DRI 0.14%), which owns Olive Garden and Cheddar’s, among many others. Perhaps the problem is the breakfast: Dine Brands (DIN 1.15%), which owns IHOP and Applebee’s, has struggled with a similar drop in profits, but even Dine’s profit margin is above 5%.

In short, it will take more than the publicity surrounding this logo controversy to fuel a long-term turnaround at Cracker Barrel. According to CEO Julie Felss Masino, the company is “in the middle of a three-year transformation” that’s expected to cost $700 million and include changes to the company’s advertising, menus, and store layouts. If this is how well things are going, investors will face a long and rocky road, no matter what Cracker Barrel’s logo ends up looking like.

US restaurant chain abandons rebrand after new logo prompts firestorm of criticism online.

Cracker Barrel, the US restaurant chain known for its southern-style cuisine, has abandoned a controversial rebrand following a backlash stoked by prominent right-wing figures including Donald Trump.

The Lebanon, Tennessee-based chain said on Tuesday that it would bring back its decades-old logo after its announcement of a simplified design provoked a firestorm of criticism online.

“We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain,” the company said in a statement.

“At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been – and always will be – about serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that feels like family. As a proud American institution, our 70,000 hardworking employees look forward to welcoming you to our table soon.”

Cracker Barrel, which has more than 600 stores across the US, last week unveiled a new logo as part of the “fifth evolution” of its brand, ditching the image of a seated man leaning against a barrel in favour of a simplified, text-only design.

The redesign prompted a swift backlash in right-wing circles, with some commentators claiming the company had gone “woke” – a term used by conservatives to mock what they see as an excessive fixation on racial and gender diversity.

Shares in Cracker Barrel, which had fallen sharply amid the backlash, rose more than 7 percent in after-hours trading following the reversal.

Weighing in on the furore shortly before Cracker Barrel’s announcement on Tuesday, Trump called on the company to revert to its old logo and “admit a mistake”.

“They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity,” the US president wrote on his platform Truth Social.

Following Cracker Barrel’s U-turn, Trump congratulated the chain on the change.

“All of your fans very much appreciate it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Good luck into the future. Make lots of money and, most importantly, make your customers happy again!”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has used the presidency to exert an extraordinary level of influence over private businesses.

Trump last week announced that the US government had taken a 10 percent stake in Intel, days after confirming that chip giants Nvidia and AMD had agreed to pay 15 percent of revenues from chip sales in China into Washington’s coffers.

Last month, Coca-Cola announced that it would release a version of its signature drink made with cane sugar in the US after Trump claimed to have persuaded the company to start using the sweetener in favour of high-fructose corn syrup.

Masked goons are terrorizing American cities. The U.S. inflation rate is the highest it has been in over four decades. Gaza is starving to death. The Cracker Barrel unveils a new logo.

If you guessed which crisis is not like the others, then you’ve spotted the latest source of outrage fueling the right-wing media universe, where trivial distractions from Trump’s failures and the Epstein files are the name of the game.

In a kerfuffle as layered as the eatery’s hash-brown casserole ($4.79 for a side dish, $15 and upward for an entree-sized portion), the folksy-themed establishment, which first opened its doors in 1969, is once again fodder in a one-sided culture war.

The crime? The chain’s classic gold and brown logo now features the chain’s name in a more minimalistic font. Gone is the eatery’s unofficial mascot, that folksy fellow in coveralls who enjoys leaning on a wooden barrel.

“WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!” said Cracker Barrel regular-in-spirit-only Donald Trump Jr. when responding to a post on X where the user shockingly blamed DEI for the restaurant’s monstrous decision.

“Cracker Barrel is done,” wrote the Federalist’s Sean Davis. “Woke executives killed it, wrapped the corpse in a rainbow flag, and then made it do a little puppet show in New York City for the entertainment of all their woke little friends.”

Not exactly a puppet show, but the Cracker Barrel did host its “A Taste of Country, Anytime” event Thursday in New York City with country music star Jordan Davis. The chain purported to bring a “country hospitality experience to the big city,” complete with “entertainment on the front porch, rocking chairs, classic Cracker Barrel games and crave-worthy food.”

Clearly a ruse for yet another Pride parade or Latin American gang invasion.

The deception started on Aug. 19, when the Tennessee-based chain in a press release announced changes to its logo and menu as part of a campaign titled “All the More.” The rebrand features new menu items, restaurant remodels and an “enhanced brand look and feel.”

“We believe in the goodness of country hospitality, a spirit that has always defined us. Our story hasn’t changed,”  said Cracker Barrel Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Moore in a statement. “Our values haven’t changed.”

But their signage has changed, and that in itself signaled a threat to a way of life that we need to rediscover, you know, in order to make America great again.

Nostalgia for a time that most of us weren’t even alive to see is part of Cracker Barrel’s appeal. Renowned for its Southern comfort food and down-home appeal, generations of Americans have wandered through the establishment’s general store decor and dined on its Southern comfort food. But like any business, it needs to keep up with the tastes and demands of new generations, and apparently Gen Z, millennials and even Gen Xers aren’t buying black licorice and candy corn like their predecessors once did.

It’s hardly the first time the dubiously-named dining establishment has faced accusations that it’s going gay. As the Bulwark pointed out, there was 2023 e-outrage over Cracker Barrel’s acknowledgment of Pride month, which included a rainbow-themed rocking chair and some corporate-speak about “diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at Cracker Barrel.”

“We take no pleasure in reporting that Cracker Barrel has fallen,” the organization Texas Family Project wrote at the time. “A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob.”

When the country is in chaos and entangled in man-made catastrophes abroad, it’s easier to rail, risk-free, against a manufactured crisis. Fox Business News led its Friday news lineup with a Cracker Barrel report, but not about the logo redesign: “Cracker Barrel over the past decade has worked closely with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), changing its company culture to be more inclusive and LGBT-friendly ahead of its controversial store rebrand,” reads the lede.

It’s yet to be seen if a sizable swath of America will forgo the Signature Saucy Chicken Sandwich in protest, constituting another national crisis to chew on.