Cracker Barrel, the iconic Southern-inspired restaurant chain known for its homestyle cooking and rocking-chair porches, has found itself at the center of a storm this week. The catalyst? A new logo—its first major change in decades—that has unleashed a torrent of political and cultural backlash, a social media uproar, and a sharp plunge in the company’s market value.
On August 19, 2025, Cracker Barrel announced a brand redesign, unveiling a sleek, modern logo as part of its broader “All the More” campaign to refresh its image. Gone is the decades-old emblem featuring a seated man leaning against a barrel—a symbol that, for nearly 50 years, embodied the chain’s cozy, nostalgic appeal. In its place stands a minimalist, text-only design, using a no-frills font enclosed within a barrel-shaped frame, rendered in the familiar gold and brown tones. According to Forbes, this move was described by the company as a “call-back to the original” 1969 logo, which was also text-based.
But if Cracker Barrel hoped the new look would quietly usher in a new era, it misjudged the mood of its most vocal customers and critics. Almost immediately, the change set off a digital firestorm. Social media platforms—from X (formerly Twitter) to Instagram and Reddit—were flooded with posts expressing heartbreak, outrage, and, in some corners, outright fury. “I have NO IDEA why companies feel the need to change their logo when the one they have had for decades works so well,” one Instagram user pleaded, echoing a common refrain. Another demanded, “Bring the old logo back with grandpa!” The sense of loss was palpable, with fans lamenting what they saw as the erasure of a beloved piece of Americana.
The backlash, however, was far from just nostalgic. It quickly took on a political edge, with prominent right-wing figures and accounts accusing Cracker Barrel of abandoning its country roots and succumbing to so-called “woke” corporate trends. Donald Trump Jr. weighed in on X on August 21, posting, “WTF is wrong with @CrackerBarrel??!” The post was in response to criticism of Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino for “scrapping a beloved American aesthetic and replacing it with sterile, soulless branding,” as well as for the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments.
Other conservative voices amplified the outrage. The account End Wokeness, which boasts nearly 4 million followers, declared, “Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino should face charges for this crime against humanity,” racking up tens of thousands of likes. Country singer John Rich, a staunch Trump supporter, suggested the logo change could spark a “Bud Light moment”—a reference to the 2023 conservative boycott of Bud Light after the beer brand collaborated with a transgender influencer. Benny Johnson, a political commentator with over 5 million YouTube subscribers, posted a video slamming Masino as an “insufferable left-wing elitist” and lamenting the “destruction of a great American brand.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, never one to shy away from a social media spat, seized the moment to mock the MAGA crowd’s outrage. On August 21, Newsom’s @GovPressOffice account posted a sarcastic, all-caps message on X: “WHAT IS WRONG WITH CRACKER BARREL?? KEEP YOUR BEAUTIFUL LOGO!!! THE NEW ONE LOOKS LIKE CHEAP VELVEETA ‘CHEESE’ FROM WALMART, THE PLACE FOR ‘GROCERIES’ (AN OLD FASHIONED TERM)!!! ‘FIX IT’ ASAP! WOKE IS DEAD!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER. — GCN.” The post, a parody of former President Trump’s well-known online style, poked fun at both the logo change and the political furor swirling around it.
The impact of the backlash was not limited to the internet. Cracker Barrel’s shares took a nosedive, falling as much as 15% on August 21, according to Bloomberg, and wiping nearly $100 million off the company’s market value. The timing was unmistakable: the stock drop followed the logo announcement on August 19 and the social media uproar that peaked over the next two days. Many observers drew parallels to the Bud Light controversy, where a conservative-led boycott led to significant financial losses for the beer brand.
Cracker Barrel, for its part, has tried to reassure its customer base. In a statement to Forbes, the company insisted that the new logo is “rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.” Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Moore emphasized, “Our story hasn’t changed. Our values haven’t changed,” adding that the company is “honoring our legacy while bringing fresh energy, thoughtful craftsmanship and heartfelt hospitality to our guests this fall.” The company also pointed out that Uncle Herschel, the man from the previous logo, “remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu.”
CEO Julie Felss Masino, who took over in August 2023, has been candid about the motivations behind the rebranding. Speaking to Good Morning America, she said the changes are intended to make the chain feel “like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow,” while promising that “the things that you love are still there.” The “All the More” campaign, which also includes new menu options and a collaboration with country singer Jordan Davis, aims to attract a younger clientele and revitalize the brand’s relevance, especially as some older diners have been slow to return post-pandemic. Masino told investors in May 2024, “We’re just not as relevant as we once were.”
Yet, the reaction has been anything but unified. While the outrage has dominated headlines, a few voices have defended the new look. One Redditor argued that the new design is “a nice modernization of the ‘wordmark’ itself,” and suggested a compromise: integrating a vintage-style illustration of the old man above the new wordmark. Still, for many, the change feels like a step too far—a break from the brand’s cherished, nostalgic past.
This is not the first time Cracker Barrel has drawn fire from conservative circles. In 2023, the chain faced right-wing criticism for celebrating LGBTQ customers during Pride Month, both on social media and its website. The Texas Family Project, a conservative group, declared, “We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen,” a phrase that quickly became a meme. Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel maintains it is committed to inclusivity, even as it acknowledges a complicated history—having faced controversy in the 1990s for urging locations not to hire people “whose sexual preference fails to demonstrate normal heterosexual values.”
With over 660 locations across 45 states, Cracker Barrel remains a fixture of the American roadside and a symbol—however contested—of comfort food and country nostalgia. Whether the new logo will help the brand find fresh relevance or deepen the rift with its traditional base remains to be seen. For now, the company finds itself at the crossroads of nostalgia and modernity, trying to keep one foot in the past while stepping boldly into the future.
