Why Cracker Barrel's new logo is a flop, according to branding experts

Cracker Barrel stocks plunge aft caller logo

Cracker Barrel stocks plunge aft caller logo release 00:44

When Cracker Barrel unveiled its caller logo past week arsenic portion of an ongoing brand refresh, it wouldn't person expected the selling determination to spark a nationalist furor and origin the restaurant's concatenation worth to sink by astir $100 million. 

Yet the occurrence highlights the perils of tinkering with a company's brand. Cracker Barrel acknowledged successful a connection connected Monday that "we could've done a amended occupation sharing who we are and who we'll ever be."

Brands arsenic stories

Marketing experts are much blunt astir Cracker Barrel's misfire. 

"From a branding perspective, it's fundamentally a flop," said David E. Johnson, CEO of branding bureau Strategic Vision PR Group, of Cracker Barrel's logo redesign. "What they did incorrect is they went against their marque story, which was the aged logo, that reflected the southern, whimsical ambiance successful the stores."

In Johnson's view, Cracker Barrel's mistake was that it replaced a logo with genuine symbolic currency for a "very generic looking logo that doesn't archer a story." Other branding experts accidental the hubbub is the effect of a concern severing its plan from its roots — a cardinal misdeed for a institution similar Cracker Barrel whose folksy image is meant to evoke "homestyle state cooking."

More specifically, Cracker Barrel's caller logo retains the rustic colour palette of the archetypal design, portion removing the representation of an older man sitting successful a wicker seat leaning against a barrel. 

The archetypal Cracker Barrel edifice was launched successful Lebanon, Tennessee, successful 1969 by Dan Evins portion moving for his family's gasoline business. The thought was to recreate the benignant of homey restaurants he'd enjoyed arsenic a child, according to the company's website. The antheral successful Cracker Barrel's archetypal logo is said to beryllium Evins' uncle, Herschel, who until present has been cardinal to overmuch of the restaurant's branding and merchandise. 

Cracker Barrel's caller logo removed the drafting of a seated antheral leaning against a ample barrel.  Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel's erstwhile logo featured the representation of a seated antheral leaning against a ample barrel, which the institution had said was intended to evoke "the aged state store acquisition wherever folks would stitchery astir and stock stories." Cracker Barrel

The determination to region some Herschel and the namesake tube from the logo irked immoderate Cracker Barrel loyalists due to the fact that the archetypal representation represented what franchise advisor and branding adept Nick Yeonakis called a "throwback to a simpler clip that was astir location cooking." 

"So, radical person this representation successful their caput of a Cracker Barrel that is changeless and stable, and that's wherefore erstwhile they rebranded, backlash happened," helium said. 

Still, selling experts hold that Cracker Barrel, which operates astir 660 corporate-owned locations crossed the U.S., was owed for an representation revamp. The company's growth, which soared successful the 1990s, has slowed successful caller years. In 2024, the institution reported gross of astir $3.5 billion, up little than 1% from $3.4 cardinal the erstwhile year, portion nett income fell to $40.9 million, down sharply from $99 cardinal successful 2023.

In 2024, concerns implicit its competitiveness and stagnant maturation led the company, led by caller CEO and erstwhile Taco Bell enforcement Julie Felss Masino, to announce changes to its restaurants, paper and pricing. 

The concatenation had go little applicable successful portion due to the fact that it had leaned excessively heavy connected the "timeless quality of our concept," Masino said successful a May 2024 league telephone with Wall Street analysts. "The goal, simply put, was to freshen things successful specified a mode arsenic to beryllium noticeable and charismatic but inactive consciousness similar Cracker Barrel," she said.

Today, Cracker Barrel maintains that its restaurants volition clasp their old-timey vibe, including utilizing Uncle Herschel successful its marketing. 

"We emotion seeing however overmuch you attraction astir our 'old-timer.' We emotion him too. Uncle Herschel volition inactive beryllium connected our menu... connected our roadworthy signs and featured successful our state store. He's not going anyplace — he's family," the institution said successful its connection connected Monday. 

Sign of the times

Customer choler implicit Cracker Barrel's caller logo besides reflects the culturally and politically charged situation companies look today. For example, erstwhile Bud Light partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney successful 2023, immoderate customers called for a boycott of the brew brand, severely denting the beer brand's sales.

In 1 societal media station that typified immoderate of the disapproval of Cracker Barrel, 1 relationship called "Woke War Room" called for Masino to resign. "Cracker Barrel's caller logo isn't an mishap — it's CEO Julie Felss Masino's project. She scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding," the post reads.

Such critiques exemplify the good enactment companies are often forced to tread, Carreen Winters, president of estimation astatine MikeWorldWide, told CBS MoneyWatch.

"It's precise hard to beryllium a marque for everybody contiguous due to the fact that we are truthful polarized, and radical look astatine things done a governmental lens adjacent if determination is nary governmental intent," she said. "When you are a bequest brand, it's truly important to recognize who your halfway is, and to not bash thing to alienate them portion cultivating your aboriginal oregon adjacent procreation customer."

Other branding experts are skeptical Cracker Barrel's redesign was politically motivated.

"I truly uncertainty the Cracker Barrel executives sat down and said, 'We'll spell done this enormously costly undertaking to alteration each of our signage and everything connected societal media successful bid to alteration thing due to the fact that we consciousness we privation to beryllium 'woke,'" Thomas Murphy, a concern prof and branding adept astatine Clark University, told CBS MoneyWatch.

Rather, Cracker Barrel missed the people by failing to afloat instrumentality into relationship people's affectional concern successful its brand, Winters said.

"If you are a bequest marque and you're modernizing, you person to marque definite you've appropriately honored that bequest due to the fact that astatine the extremity of the day, your stakeholders ain your marque — you don't," she said. "Not knowing the lawsuit and the remainder of stakeholders and what they attraction astir truly matters and that seems to beryllium what went awry here."