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Business|Cracker Barrel’s New Modern Logo and Aesthetic Become a Political Rorschach Test
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/business/cracker-barrel-rebrand-logo.html
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Nostalgic fans of the interstate staple lamented the loss of its country kitsch, while some conservatives blamed “wokeness” for the sleek redesign.
Aug. 21, 2025Updated 2:01 p.m. ET
First it came for your grandma’s floral curtains. Then it marched on your parents’ wooden cabinets — Paint them Millennial Gray, it whispered, natural grain is boring. Before you knew it, there was shiplap on the walls and a ceramic farmhouse sink where the double-basin stainless one used to be.
Now, the modern farmhouse aesthetic has taken root in an American country staple: Cracker Barrel.
Gone are the dark walls and natural hardwood, the country kitsch aesthetic that anchored any childhood road trip through the American south. In horrified, intrigued — and, sometimes, angry — posts across the internet, Cracker Barrel’s faithful are watching the chain remake itself this year under its “All the More” campaign, with bright walls, crisp decór and, now, a new logo that will change Interstate amenity signs everywhere.
In a statement, the chain declared the revamp a “fresh” new look, part of a yearslong effort to update itself. But the restaurant’s rebrand has emerged as a Rorschach test in America’s divided political landscape. A new logo is not just a new logo for Cracker Barrel, where the addition of meatless sausages to the menu in 2022 sparked a furious debate over values and so-called “wokeness.”
The new stamp sparked a torrent of outrage from MAGA voices, including Donald J. Trump Jr.
“WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrell??!” the president’s eldest son said on X, responding to a post that claimed the rebrand was linked to the chain’s use of inclusive hiring practices.
“It’s almost as if groups on both sides of the political spectrum are looking for an excuse to brand business decisions as politically or socially hostile,” said Jill Fisch, a professor of business law at the University of Pennsylvania who studies how corporations operate in political spaces.
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