Cracker Barrel suffered a hit to sales after it unveiled its “woke” new logo – which faced heated backlash from customers online and even President Trump.
Starting Aug. 19, the day after the logo was revealed, transactions slowed at Cracker Barrel restaurants, according to debit and credit card data from Bloomberg Second Measure, a data analytics provider.
That sales decline gained steam through Aug. 26 as diners slammed the new logo – a modern, sleek reimagining that erased an illustration of beloved folksy farmer Uncle Herschel.
Other full-service restaurants showed mixed results during the same period, in a sign that Cracker Barrel’s sudden downturn was due to brand damage, according to Bloomberg.
Cracker Barrel did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Customers slammed the Southern dining chain’s rebrand, arguing it was axing its ties to traditional American culture.
Cracker Barrel coughed up a lame apology on Aug. 25 – and the following day reversed its redesign after Trump urged the dining chain to “go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before.”
The rebrand – which also included remodeled restaurants with brighter lighting, white paint and fewer tchotchkes – was meant to attract Gen Z customers and drive growth as Cracker Barrel dealt with steep traffic declines.
But instead it further hammered sales as longtime customers abandoned the chain – and made angry complaints to workers.
A Cracker Barrel restaurant in Kennesaw, Georgia, about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta, was “dead for a week,” an employee told Bloomberg.
“People came in, and I got phone calls,” said Dwight, a manager at a Cracker Barrel in nearby Marietta who has worked for the chain for 22 years.
“Oh, people do care about the brand. They were very passionate.”
Some employees even claimed to receive threats on social media, according to a Cracker Barrel server named Christian.
“People were angry,” he added.
Shares in Cracker Barrel have cratered about 10% since the new logo was revealed and brand perception has soured.
The share of US adults with an unfavorable view of Cracker Barrel jumped from 10% on Aug. 23 – five days after the logo reveal – to 25% just two days later, according to polling by research firm Morning Consult.
Meanwhile, American Eagle’s recent campaign – which also faced heated backlash online, including accusations of promoting eugenics with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” – barely put a dent in Americans’ view of the brand, according to Morning Consult.
While Trump had urged Cracker Barrel to reverse the logo, he praised the American Eagle ad, writing on Truth Social: “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there.”
Morning Consult said it surveys 150 people a day, and that negative perceptions of Cracker Barrel had already started to fade by late last week.
Dwight, the Marietta restaurant manager, said the renovations were necessary to attract younger diners, since many of his customers were 54 or older and had stopped dining out in the wake of the pandemic.
Tammy Anderson, a customer at a Cracker Barrel in Fairburn, Georgia, said: “It was time for a change.”
“Some people are stuck in the 19th century. I like the changes. I like coming here,” Anderson told Bloomberg.
By Aug. 28, a day after Cracker Barrel scrapped the new logo, server Tiffany Kryka said the Kennesaw location was bustling with diners again.
“They’ll be here ordering turkeys and hams during the holidays, and sitting by the fireplace when it’s cool outside and all will be forgotten,” Kryka told Bloomberg.
Robert Byrne, senior director of consumer research at Technomic, said Cracker Barrel’s remodeled stores – which have fewer of the chain’s signature tchotchkes – could actually miss the mark with younger customers anyway.
“Nostalgia is a massive ongoing trend for Gen Z – even if it is nostalgia for something they never experienced directly,” Byrne told Bloomberg.
Credit: Source link
