Cracker Barrel announced Tuesday it was scrapping its controversial “woke” logo redesign and returning to its classic “Old Timer” logo after President Donald Trump and conservative customers delivered a crushing blow to the company’s woke rebranding effort.
The restaurant chain capitulated just one week after rolling out a new logo on August 18 that eliminated the beloved “Uncle Herschel” character, marking the first time in 48 years the logo had not included the iconic illustration that was added in 1977.
Trump had urged the company earlier Tuesday to reverse course, posting on Truth Social that “Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before.”
“They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity. Have a major News Conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a WINNER again,” Trump wrote, adding “Remember, in just a short period of time I made the United States of America the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. One year ago, it was ‘DEAD.’ Good luck!”
The president’s intervention proved decisive. By Tuesday evening, Cracker Barrel announced its surrender to customer pressure.
“We thank your guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,” the restaurant chain said in a statement. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain. At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been – and always will be – about serving up delicious food, warm welcomes, and the kind of country hospitality that feels like family.”
Trump immediately celebrated the victory, posting Tuesday night —
President Trump congratulates Cracker Barrel.
This timeline is something else
😂😂 pic.twitter.com/UHksh9JRT9— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 27, 2025
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich revealed that Cracker Barrel executives had personally called to thank Trump for his intervention. “I appreciated the call earlier this evening with @CrackerBarrel,” Budowich posted. “They thanked President Trump for weighing in on the issue of their iconic ‘original’ logo. They wanted the President to know that they heard him, along with customer response (the ultimate poll), and would be restoring the ‘Old Timer.’ So smart! Congrats Cracker Barrel and America!”
The logo controversy became a flashpoint in the ongoing culture war as conservatives rallied against what they saw as another attempt to strip away traditional American values. The new design featured only the restaurant’s name in brown lettering on a yellow background, dropping the familiar image of a man sitting beside a barrel that customers had cherished for decades.
Social media users had attacked the new look as “soulless” and accused the company of abandoning its heritage. Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida joined the criticism, writing that “no one asked for this rebrand” and calling to “Make Cracker Barrel Great Again.”
The backlash proved devastating for the company’s financial performance, with Cracker Barrel’s stock price plunging more than 12 percent last week. Competing restaurant chain Steak ‘n Shake piled on, accusing Cracker Barrel of trying to “delete the personality altogether” and calling for CEO Julie Felss Masino to be replaced.
Conservative activists and commentators celebrated the logo restoration as a major cultural victory. “This is a BIG win in the culture war for America. Thank you, Cracker Barrel!” wrote ACT for America founder Brigitte Gabriel.
The polling company Rasmussen Reports mocked the company’s retreat, posting “Update: Woke management goes over Niagara Falls in a barrel.”
“This is what I voted for,” posted Students for Trump national chairman Ryan Fournier.
The logo disaster was part of CEO Julie Felss Masino’s broader $700 million “strategic transformation plan” announced in May 2024, which has faced sustained criticism from investors and customers alike. The modernization effort included not only the logo change but also remodeling restaurants from their traditional antique, rural Americana decor to a more minimalist aesthetic.
Venture capitalist Sardar Biglari had warned shareholders in October 2024 that Cracker Barrel’s rebranding was “obvious folly.”
Masino had initially defended the changes in an interview with ABC News, claiming, “People like what we’re doing. Cracker Barrel needs to feel like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow — the things that you love are still there. We need people to choose us, and we want people to choose us.”
The company had attempted damage control Monday with a statement titled “Our Promise to You,” acknowledging that they “could’ve done a better job” in communicating their vision. The corporate response did little to calm the fury.
The “Uncle Herschel” character holds special significance as more than just a logo design. The figure was based on a real person – the actual uncle of company founder Danny Evins, who died in 1998. Herschel was a salesman who frequented general stores throughout the South and was known to “sit a spell” and visit with customers. Cracker Barrel even calls him the “soul of Cracker Barrel,” with a statue of him at company headquarters in Lebanon, Tennessee.
The controversy echoes other corporate rebranding disasters that sparked conservative backlash. From Coca-Cola’s “New Coke” fiasco in the 1980s to Bud Light’s catastrophic campaign sponsoring transgender celebrity Dylan Mulvaney, companies have repeatedly learned the hard way that abandoning their traditional customer base carries severe consequences.
Cracker Barrel’s problems extend beyond just the logo. In recent years, the company has sponsored Pride events that included children, promoted pronoun usage, and embraced corporate race-based hiring initiatives over merit-based practices. During this period of progressive pandering, the company’s stock price has collapsed from a high of $147.91 in 2021 to the mid-$50s today.