On Tuesday (Aug. 19), Cracker Barrel unveiled a brand new emblem, a lot to the chagrin of the web.
Since its launch, left and right-wing politicians, entrepreneurs, and customers alike have criticized the change, with some declaring it’s too “woke” and steers away from “American custom.” Others have knocked the simplicity of the design.
“WTF is flawed with @CrackerBarrel??!,” Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, posted to X. The official X account for the Democratic Celebration echoed the assertion, posting, “We predict the Cracker Barrel rebrand sucks too.”
Following the backlash, the model’s shares fell 7.2% on Thursday morning (Aug. 21), erasing $100 million in market worth. Its shares rose barely on Friday (Aug. 22) in pre-market buying and selling.
Nonetheless, Cracker Barrel is doubling down on its new look.
In an announcement shared with ADWEEK, Sarah Moore, the model’s chief advertising officer (CMO), mentioned its “values haven’t modified, and the guts and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t modified.”
“Cracker Barrel has been a vacation spot for consolation and group for greater than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the model’s emblem, which works throughout digital platforms in addition to billboards and roadside indicators, is a call-back to the unique and rooted much more within the iconic barrel form and phrase mark that began all of it again in 1969,” she mentioned.
Cracker Barrel
‘All of the Extra‘
Cracker Barrel launched the up to date visible id as a part of its new “All of the Extra” marketing campaign, which additionally features a 15-second spot starring nation singer Jordan Davis, new menu gadgets, and an inside design revamp of its eating places.
The emblem eliminated its longstanding previous man and the barrel motif, changing the picture with a easy wordmark within the model’s signature gold and brown.
Together with customers, the advert trade is split on the rebrand, too.
Bruno Regalo, chief design officer at TBWAWorldwide, noticed that whereas “the trouble to modernize the model by simplifying its id and making it extra legible and adaptable to a digital ecosystem” works, it dangers “alienating loyal audiences.”
“Heritage manufacturers should bear in mind their id isn’t just aesthetic, it’s cultural,” he instructed ADWEEK. “When updating visible codes, they’re not merely adjusting pixels or sort curves, however symbols embedded in individuals’s on a regular basis lives.”
He continued: “Greater than following design developments, it’s about conserving that soul alive—the distinctive parts that contact customers emotionally—and reinterpreting them to really feel present and related with out shedding what makes them distinctive.”
Kevin Inexperienced, govt inventive director (ECD) at Moroch Company, mentioned the model was the newest in a run to have stripped its model of “any distinctive or ownable character,” whereas plumping for a extra fashionable aesthetic.
“There must be a greater steadiness between modernity and the magic that has constructed manufacturers like Cracker Barrel for many years,” he mentioned.
Certainly, different advertisers, together with vogue label Burberry, have been critiqued for leaping on this so-called “blanding” development, the place a typeface replaces a picture.
A Run of Controversial Model Moments
Whereas the transfer was meant to have fun its 55+ 12 months heritage, Cracker Barrel has confronted earlier boycotts over claims of discrimination because of its American South aesthetic and company insurance policies.
It now joins a operating record of manufacturers which have stoked controversy and grow to be a flashpoint within the U.S. tradition wars during the last month, together with American Eagle, Dunkin’, and e.l.f. Cosmetics.
