What We Can Learn From the Cracker Barrel Logo Firestorm

Why you should never violate your brand Why

Let’s talk about what happens when you violate your brand Why.

If you somehow missed it last week, as part of an evolving rebranding strategy to restore restaurant sales, Cracker Barrel redesigned their classic logo. They got rid of the good ole’ guy in the overalls leaning on the barrel. The internet went nuts about the change, petitions were signed, celebrities chimed in, and after a few days of the firestorm, the old logo was restored.

So what happened here?

Cracker Barrel made the classic mistake of not understanding the Why behind their brand.

We were counting on you Cracker Barrel! And you blew it! You violated your core Why.

This happens all the time with brands. They haven’t done a strong enough brand architecture job to really understand the Why — or the shared river running underneath them and their customers — so when they evolve their products or design, they inadvertently violate or abandon that Why. They don’t really understand it and haven’t articulated it well enough to conscientiously execute against it as a team.

Cracker Barrel is lucky — the internet firestorm alerted them to their Why violation, and they fixed it. Kudos to the team for reversing course.

The real damage gets done in quieter, less-protested violations — those silent-killer Why departures that damage long-term customer loyalty and market share without the brand ever really understanding what happened.

Cracker Barrel’s core Why is tied to the great American Road Trip. The fleeting nature of time. Nostalgia. And when a brand is about nostalgia, we're counting on it to never change. It might be totally random and schlocky, but it's our random schlock.

Cracker Barrel makes me nostalgic for the authenticity of my own childhood, which wasn't about wealth or materialism. It was about those times in the family station wagon, driving from St. Louis to Florida for vacation, both my parents smoking (with all the windows rolled up), me fighting with my three siblings in the back seat. The stuff we still laugh about today. And stops at Cracker Barrel were a part of that.

When they changed their logo, Cracker Barrel violated their fundamental brand Why — a Why that represents memories, childhood experiences, the authentic meaning of family, friendship, community, and our shared American culture — a Why that represents something that doesn’t change, even when everything else around us is changing so fast.

So what do I think Cracker Barrel could do?

• They could do a whole campaign around the “Great American Road Trip,” introducing their new, evolved menu, which sounds like it's been a huge success. They could create menu items that commemorate and celebrate the tropes of the American family.

• They could go out to TikTok and do collabs with influencers on menu items, capturing their own memories of Cracker Barrel, or sharing their experiences on road trips with their kids.

• All the tchotchkes from the Country Store? They could do a mystery box with influencers inspired by their childhoods. Everybody loves a mystery box. One of the greatest marketing tricks ever.

But the logo? That's the last thing you're going to evolve. You evolve the product, you evolve the content, you evolve the marketing, and you put Cracker Barrel back into culture and people's lives in a lovable way that builds on family and nostalgia.

So, Cracker Barrel, I actually applaud you guys for winding back that decision. A lot of people are too stubborn to reverse back after a mistake. Well done on that. And ultimately, this is a huge win for you, because everybody's talking about Cracker Barrel.

And what the rest of us can learn from this is — you’ve just got to know your brand Why. Know your brand architecture. Know your brand equity. And then you need to deliver on the promises you’ve made to your customer over and over.

And as always, good luck!

Emily