Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino is clearing the air about what led her to change the franchise’s logo before public uproar forced her to revert it back.
Remember back in August when a large portion of the country lost their mind when Cracker Barrel tried to modernize their brand? The restaurant chain that was born in Tennessee quickly heard from its passionate fanbase that doing so would be a huge mistake.
So after an incredible shaming movement by the people of this great country, Cracker Barrel announced that they would scrap their logo redesign that they had rolled out and revert back to the “Old Timer sitting next to Barrel” logo that has represented their brand for close to five decades. They also announced that they would suspend remodels of their stores, and even do their best to modify the stores that have already been remodeled.
The official Cracker Barrel social media account shared the news, and their decision to go back on their rebrand basically proved that peer pressure works:
“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. 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. As a proud American institution, our 70,000 hardworking employees look forward to welcoming you to our table soon.”
Thank goodness they listened to the masses and changed things back. The new logo – that no longer reigns supreme – had no character and was about as sterile as they could have drawn it up. A lot of people questioned why Cracker Barrel would even bother changing their logo (and called the decision to do so “woke”), when the traditional feel of the original brand and the interior of the restaurant’s themselves were so beloved.
Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino (yes, she’s still the CEO) has the answer to that question.
She spoke at the 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit in New York earlier today, and according to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Masino says that the move to get rid of the “old timer” and reshape the restaurant’s logo was an attempt to help with highway visibility. And another quote from the CEO went like this:
“Part of this transformation is setting up success for the long term.”
Now, to be clear, I’m not a CEO, nor have I ever been. I can only really say that I took a couple of marketing and advertising classes in college. That being said, I could tell you that changing the Cracker Barrel logo would have both hurt visibility and made no sense for success in the long term.
Cracker Barrel’s big, towering signs are already a recognized staple as you drive around the United States of America. If you change that sign… suddenly people are left wondering what happened to the Cracker Barrel logo they know and love. And clearly the move wasn’t good for the long term… hell, it wasn’t even good for a couple of weeks.
Unless Masino’s went to the school of “any publicity is good publicity.” The Cracker Barrel CEO nailed it if that was what she was going for.
