“Agent for American Cultural War”: Why Cracker Barrel’s new logo sparked IRE on the right | US News

On Tuesday, the U.S. commander-in-chief faced one of the most pressing issues facing our country: rebranding the restaurant chain.

Last week, Tennessee-based company Cracker Barrel leaned heavily on a cozy, old-fashioned aesthetic in its location nationwide – “Rocking chairs on the porch, warm fire in the hearth, nail game on the table” – Announce It is updating its logo.

Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letter with the barrel, left. This caused anger on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading the allegations of reshaping: “Is the WTF of the cookie barrel wrong?!” Later, Trump SR imposed a trade-off that suggested the company “accepted a mistake.”

Businesses keep changing the logo – the bland new images are nothing to note. So, why does Cracker Barrel’s Shift cause this anger on the right?

It begins with the company’s position in the public imagination. Neeraj Bharadwaj, a marketing professor at the University of Tennessee Haslam School of Business, said Cracker Barrel is “a part of the cultural landscape.” “This is an institution.”

The new logo is part of the bidding Attract young customers Have a sleeker and more modern look. However, such updates conflict with the company’s image. Founded in 1969, the restaurant is known for its southern comfort foods, including fried chicken and biscuits and gravy. Antique decoration; and comprehensive stores such as vintage candies.

“It has this stylized or idealized representation that I think many people will define as ‘good times’,” said Jarvis Sam, founder and CEO of Rainbow Destruction and a practice professor and a Berkeley professor. “But for others, its historical images of exclusion, and the romanticization of this era are not actually as safe and nostalgic to everyone.”

Sam said the Cookie Barrel Case was an “agent of a large cultural war developed around people who actually own the American story.”

“Because people feel so connected and deeply rooted with the nostalgia of some of these experiences, it can lead to a rebound when changes occur,” he added.

Of course, this makes it an easy target for politicians who benefit from cultural wars. “A political theater at best,” Sam said. Leaders use smaller changes in restaurant chains to convey their message, including “waking up culture is problematic, threatening American society, and what we understand as decentralization of traditional American history.”

Cracker Barrel has his own dark history. In 1991, the company announced that it was built on the concept of traditional values, Inconsistent There are no employees who “express normal values ​​of the opposite sex”. it Fire 11 LGBTQ+ Workersleading to protests. It seems to be Back to the statementAlthough activists say workers are not rehired and bought stocks to put pressure on the company. It added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy in 2002.

However, two years later, the chain paid $8.7 million to address 40 plaintiffs’ claims of racist treatment of black customers and discrimination against black workers. 16 states charges Including denial of service and segregation of black diners, the use of racial slander and the provision of food from the garbage. The plaintiff’s attorney called the settlement “a good closure to a bad time.”

In the latest controversy, the biggest voice demands change – but they seem to have permeated the wider American consciousness. Seventy-six of respondents YouGov poll says they prefer the old logo and the rebound is enough Sink biscuit barrels are worth nearly $100 million And drawing the quasi-apartment, the company said on Tuesday that it could do better and share who we are and who we will always be.” The statement seemed to indicate that the company insisted on the change, but later in the day it defaulted: Uncle Herschel seemed to be relying on. Wednesday, Share price rises 8%.

So, what is the business class for all this? On the one hand, Sam said, it shows that “no matter what market research they do, does not include consumers for most consumers” – if anything, the company will be ready for this response.

Instead, the company suffered from self-injury wounds by “trying to celebrate design change and showing that they are adapting to the Times.” “Slow and cautious rollouts will be safer. Still, re-making plans just makes things more complicated. “It feels like a dear leader has expressed his opinion, so we have to support dear leaders.” “For 50% of Americans who didn’t vote for Trump, this may be underperforming.

“If they believe in design, they should stick with it, if they lay off employees so quickly, it means they don’t believe in design and probably shouldn’t move on in the first place,” Pierce said of the cookie barrel. “They are blowing in the wind.” Reminiscent of 1985 New Coke Crashed, Coca-Cola released a new formula that just withdraws within 77 days and then returns to “Classic”.

Of course, it was a client uprising, not a political uprising-the Soda Crisis somehow didn’t reach Ronald Reagan’s agenda. This raises a bigger question: “If a senator made a statement about it five years ago, they would be deprived of their own party” because they weighed the actions of a private company. “Where is the anger that the US president even notices this?”