Cracker Barrel just served up a giant plate of “We messed up,” and America’s not exactly surprised.
After months of pretending to be something it’s not, the folksy restaurant chain finally admitted what everyone already knew: their woke rebrand was a disaster. CEO Julie Felss Masino sat down with Glenn Beck and tried to put out the fire — but let’s be honest, that barn’s already burned down.
You remember this mess. Cracker Barrel tried to ditch its iconic “old-timer” logo in favor of something slicker, more modern — and more DEI-approved. They slapped rainbow-painted rocking chairs on porches, cozied up to LGBTQ+ groups, and even partnered with the Human Rights Campaign, the same far-left group that bullies companies into toeing the woke line. All of this from a restaurant that built its brand on country charm and sausage gravy.
Masino now claims the rebrand wasn’t political. “It’s pancakes,” she said. Cute. But if it was just pancakes, why were they flying the rainbow flag at Nashville Pride and putting trans-colored rocking chairs in their Tennessee headquarters?
Even Cracker Barrel’s DEI consultant, Gilbert Dávila, got booted after shareholders said “no thanks” to his reappointment. That’s what happens when you try to turn a down-home breakfast joint into a diversity seminar.
Masino says they “didn’t see in the data” that removing the old logo made Americans feel like they were being erased. That right there is the problem — when you need a spreadsheet to understand why alienating your core customers is a bad idea, you’re too far gone.
Cracker Barrel tried to go woke and ended up broke — or at least bruised. Let’s hope they stick to biscuits and bacon moving forward, instead of political statements.
Watch the video to see how Beck grilled them and how the CEO tried to spin it.