Scrolling through the background of board of directors and you can see how they thought this was a good idea.

https://investor.crackerbarrel.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors

aggiehawg said:

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Either the Silent Generation or the Greatest Generation were the ones before Boomers.

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Greatest Generation birthed the Baby Boom generation, the Silent Generation had Gen X.

I'm GenX and my parents were Greatest Generation

rab79 said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Either the Silent Generation or the Greatest Generation were the ones before Boomers.

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Greatest Generation birthed the Baby Boom generation, the Silent Generation had Gen X.

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Uhm, no. I was born in 1959. I'm a Boomer. My children (had I been able to have any) would have grown up in the late 70s-80s. That's Gen X. Then Millennials then Gen Z.

Half the barrel board looks like they have a secretary print out their emails.

aggiepanic95 said:

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Definitely worth posting on this thread:

There’s only one person on the planet that can save Cracker Barrel pic.twitter.com/IXSRlOCtdl

— greg (@greg16676935420) August 21, 2025

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I am glad to see you are keeping " abreast " of developments in the business recovery field. There have been some BIG BIG developments. Which I am sure you knew about already.

Edit: for gramatical error I should have said I was glad to see keeping " abreasts " of developments in the business recovery field. My apologies for making that mistake. I am filled with udder shame. I should be put on " the rack " for torture purposes to make up for my grievous mistakes.

I think she misspoke because she was nervous. Our feminist comrade actually meant to say "5-year plan."

MasonB said:

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I'm GenX and my parents were Greatest Generation

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How old were they when they had you? My Mom was 30 when she had me and I was her third child. She was a teen during WWII but didn't marry until her early twenties.

Quote:

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Trim the menu, fewer ingredients is less cost. But do those things well.

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Yes. Instantly suspicious of places with a giant menu. The bigger the menu odds are that they do none of it well.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Quote:

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Trim the menu, fewer ingredients is less cost. But do those things well.

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Yes. Instantly suspicious of places with a giant menu. The bigger the menu odds are that they do none of it well.

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I tend to agree. But Cheesecake Factory seems to make it work. IMO.

aginlakeway said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Quote:

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Trim the menu, fewer ingredients is less cost. But do those things well.

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Yes. Instantly suspicious of places with a giant menu. The bigger the menu odds are that they do none of it well.

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I tend to agree. But Cheesecake Factory seems to make it work. IMO.

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Big menu, but it's all just loaded with butter and cheese to mask any bad tastes.

Gaeilge said:

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aginlakeway said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Quote:

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Trim the menu, fewer ingredients is less cost. But do those things well.

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Yes. Instantly suspicious of places with a giant menu. The bigger the menu odds are that they do none of it well.

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I tend to agree. But Cheesecake Factory seems to make it work. IMO.

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Big menu, but it's all just loaded with butter and cheese to mask any bad tastes.

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And cheesecake.

aginlakeway said:

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Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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Quote:

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Trim the menu, fewer ingredients is less cost. But do those things well.

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Yes. Instantly suspicious of places with a giant menu. The bigger the menu odds are that they do none of it well.

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I tend to agree. But Cheesecake Factory seems to make it work. IMO.

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Bennigan's used to, too, back in the day.

Having major interne problemt.

aggiehawg said:

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MasonB said:

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I'm GenX and my parents were Greatest Generation

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How old were they when they had you? My Mom was 30 when she had me and I was her third child. She was a teen during WWII but didn't marry until her early twenties.

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Minimum would be 38 years old, parents born in 1927 and kid born in 1965.

Their food is horrible.

If they want to rebrand, start there.

JCA1 said:

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Rex Racer said:

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JCA1 said:

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Rex Racer said:

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Blackhorse83 said:

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It's a Boomer restaurant. According to Texags all things Boomer are bad. Shut'er down.

Signed;
Boomer

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It's not really a boomer restaurant, though. My mom and dad were not boomers (they were born in 1944 and 1935, respectfully), and they loved Cracker Barrel. And I'm Gen-X, and I like it, as well. It did used to be better, though.

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That's probably a little too technical. In 2025, anyone born before 1970 is, by default, a boomer. Most people don't even know what the generation before the boomers is even called.

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Not accurate. Gen-X started in 1965. The generation before the boomers didn't have a nickname.

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I know. I am Gen X. My point was there's no point in complaining about the misuse of "boomer" because they don't care what the technical criteria is. It's just a catch-all for out of touch old people.

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Then I don't care what "they" have to say.

hunter2012 said:

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Do democrats have any opinion besides, "I support the current thing..."

The article is very illuminating

This is the story of how Cracker Barrel went woke.

It isn’t about a bad design firm botching a rebrand, or a struggling restaurant trying to win over Gen Z.

Keep reading to find out what really happened.

It started in the early 1990s, when Cracker Barrel was caught in a… pic.twitter.com/cxxnXf71ti

— Upward News (@UpwardNewsHQ) August 21, 2025

Quote:

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This is the story of how Cracker Barrel went woke. It isn't about a bad design firm botching a rebrand, or a struggling restaurant trying to win over Gen Z. Keep reading to find out what really happened. It started in the early 1990s, when Cracker Barrel was caught in a scandal for discriminating against gay workers and customers. As a symbol of the South, the chain quickly became a target for the growing progressive establishment and its new institutions. Chief among them was the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), built to rank corporations on their adherence to progressive ideology a tool to keep companies in line. The former HRC president later admitted that Cracker Barrel was "under fire" from the organization, saying even that was "an understatement." By 2005, Cracker Barrel had a failing grade from HRC. Then came Steve Smotherman, a corporate leader who launched internal LGBTQ reforms, steadily raising the company's HRC score. He even sat on an HRC advisory council, linking the chain directly to the group's agenda. Over the next two decades, Cracker Barrel reshaped itself changing internal policies, pulling "controversial" items from stores, blocking certain figures from dining events, funding Pride parades, and chasing higher woke scores. The latest rebrand removing Americana dcor and the white man from its logo to make the chain "more welcoming" is not a fresh marketing pivot. It's the culmination of a decades-long effort to bring Cracker Barrel into the good graces of the progressive establishment. And it's certainly not what everyday Americans expect from the chain. Instead, it reflects what corporate leaders fully bought into the "woke" ideology of recent years want to impose. You can find our exclusive reporting and scoops on our website.

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So they've been a liberal woke establishment for thirty plus years?

And to think conservatives, up until this story of the rebranding, have eating at the restaurant and thought of the place as one of their own all this time.

Wait till they hear that the place they've not hated until a couple of days ago has had the same DEI CEO for almost two years now.

So what is the definition of 'WOKE' again?

When that word first started being a thing, it seemed like it equated to social injustice and racial discrimination topics.

This is getting the 'Woke' criticism because removed the old man from the logo? And Cracker Barrel has indicated they felt that logo implied support for social injustice and racial discrimination to some potential customer markets, so they switched to that super simple looking logo? That is why Woke is being brought up here?

Pumpkinhead said:

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So what is the definition of 'WOKE' again?

When that word first started being a thing, it seemed like it equated to social injustice and racial discrimination topics.

Now that word applies to any company branding change, if it is perceived the branding is about trying to appeal to a different market or younger generation, or something along those lines?

Not saying this move by Cracker Barrel isn't maybe a major business mistake, but this was a 'Woke' mistake? Was New Coke a 'Woke' mistake? That word just seems to get thrown around so commonly nowadays for all sorts of things, is that word now almost a synonym for the word 'Change'?

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Not "change," just anything not maga from what i can tell.

I edited my post that I guess it is felt the old white man in the logo was removed for 'Woke' reasons. But company rebranding is always closely linked to customer market changes, perhaps younger consumers, or whatever, etc., so this maybe a huge mistake by that company, but the Woke word just gets so casually thrown out there nowadays.

Never been to a cracker barrel.

I look forward to getting some rocking chairs at half off on the liquidation sale.

bigjag19 said:

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I look forward to getting some rocking chairs at half off on the liquidation sale.

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Rainbow?

Pumpkinhead said:

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I edited my post that I guess it is felt the old white man in the logo was removed for 'Woke' reasons. But company rebranding is always closely linked to customer market changes, perhaps younger consumers, or whatever, etc., so this maybe a huge mistake by that company, but the Woke word just gets so casually thrown out there nowadays.

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It's just another example of the outrage farming businesses that social media drives now. Just look at the tweet earlier on this thread - they repeat a bunch of vague, tangentially woke related accusations with all of the key buzzwords as if it's huge breaking news, and then of course finish with a CTA to their website. And because everyone on both sides is on a constant hunt for things to be offended by the online outrage becomes an easy target for lazy content creators.

A few years ago, Cracker Barrel rebranding would have been met with a collective yawn, but now there's an entire industry devoted to getting people fired up about it.

I don't think the logo change is evidence of some misguided agenda. Probably more run of the mill change for the sake of change instigated by a new CEO listening to marketing consultants.

I do think the reaction from the right is at least partially a result of learning this behavior. Agitators on the left have been hyper-vigilant on the subject of representation for years - not enough of ______ people in your ads/movies/etc. and it's a sign of animus. Not surprising then that agitators on the right begin doing the same thing - you took away the old white man from the logo, so there must be animus behind it.

With guys like this on the Board I don't know what went wrong.

Meh. Much ado about nothing, honestly. The tweet was click-bait. This is akin to Coca Cola coming out with New Coke back in the day. They learned it was a mistake. This may or may not turn out that way. It really depends on the quality of food and service.