Less than a week after the Cracker Barrel CEO appeared on “Good Morning America” and made the rounds celebrating the company’s new logo, the restaurant chain known for its old-time feel, southern dishes and eclectic gift/candy store, now admits it made a mistake.
Julie Masino boasted that the reception she received was very positive and claimed that during a meeting with Florida location managers, the top question asked of her was, “‘How can I get a remodel, when can I get a remodel, and how do I get on the list?'”
CRACKER BARREL ADMITS IT ‘COULD’VE DONE A BETTER JOB’ AFTER NEW LOGO BACKLASH
Following fierce backlash from customers and after watching the stock price sink for the past week, the company was forced to issue a statement regarding the changes. While the statement did not turn away from the new design or concept, it did make clear it knows it did some damage to its brand.
“If the last few days have shown us anything, it’s how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel. We’re truly grateful for your heartfelt voices,” the company said. “You’ve also shown us that we could’ve done a better job sharing who we are and who we’ll always be.”
The company said what has not and “will never change” are the values Cracker Barrel was built on when the Lebanon, Tennessee-based chain opened in 1969.
Those values, the statement read, are “hard work, family, and scratch-cooked food made with care.”
CRACKER BARREL EXECUTIVE INSISTS RESTAURANT REMODELS ARE ‘WHAT THE GUESTS ASKED FOR’
The statement also made sure to push one of the restaurant’s staples: its food.
“Meatloaf, chicken n’ dumplins, country fried steak, sides that taste like Sunday supper, and yes, the world’s best pancakes, they’re all still here, with a few new dishes joining the menu. Whether you’re a long-time fan or a first-time guest, we want you to feel at home around our table,” the statement read. “We also want to be sure Cracker Barrel is here for the next generation of families, just as it has been for yours.”
A former Cracker Barrel employee, Erik Russell, now a brand designer, said the company was committing “brand suicide.”
“There is no such thing as ‘just a logo,’” Russell said. “When you first draw a logo, it doesn’t matter how good that logo is technically, right? It doesn’t mean anything. What makes a logo meaningful and what makes branding meaningful is the connection that it represents to your customers.”
Jeff Rifkin, the creative director and owner of Destroy, wrote in a LinkedIn post, “Here’s what really stings: This isn’t just bad design. It’s a message. It says: ‘We don’t care about our core audience. We’re too busy trying to appeal to everyone and satisfying no one.’ Cracker Barrel used to be a road trip staple. A place that my wife, I, and countless others relied on. Now? It’s generic, confusing, and hollow.”
He continued: “This is why rebrands fail. Stop trying to be for everyone. Stop erasing what made people love you. Stop pretending your ‘modern update’ is smart.”
Last week, shortly after the backlash ensued, Cracker Barrel told FOX Business in a statement that while the logo changed, the company’s values hadn’t, and that Uncle Herschel McCartney, uncle of the company’s founder, Dan Evins, and Cracker Barrel’s goodwill ambassador, “remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu.”
The company said the redesign is an even bigger nod to its original roots.
“Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969,” the company said.
When Cracker Barrel opened its first location in 1969, the logo consisted solely of a text-only design, featuring the name “Cracker Barrel.”
FOX Business reporters Greg Wehner and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
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