Cracker Barrel Was Never Real Americana

"The fried chickens have come home to roost. Cracker Barrel is reverting to its old logo, fewer than 10 days after announcing a new, stripped-down version. The ensuing controversy has been at once a welcome distraction from other news and an outgrowth of all the most annoying impulses in American life. The right-wing backlash to the company's redesign stems from the claim that an avatar of small-town southern authenticity is being overrun by woke culture. But nothing about the change suggests wokeness."

"More important, Cracker Barrel has always been a simulacrum of rural life, a corporate behemoth masquerading as a mom-and-pop lunch counter. (It is to genuine Americana what Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are to Clarence Ashley.) When the first Cracker Barrel opened, in 1969, the country was at the inflection point of a long, steep shift toward urban life. Cracker Barrel intended to capitalize on nostalgia for a way of life that was already disappearing."

"And its restaurants would hasten that disappearance. The chain was founded as a way to sell gas-the founder's family was in the fuel business; its locations were (and still are) largely clustered along interstate highways. The interstate system is a modern marvel, but the creation of huge freeways that bypassed the old U.S. highways sapped commerce and population from towns that relied on car traffic, destroying truly eccentric culture-such as the old Route 66 -and replacing it with drab chains that were the same,"

Cracker Barrel reverted to its previous logo less than ten days after unveiling a simplified redesign, prompting a polarized response. Right-wing critics characterized the redesign as evidence of 'woke' influence, though the change itself contains no overt political messaging. The chain operates as a manufactured version of rural life, imitating mom-and-pop authenticity while functioning as a national corporate entity. Founded in 1969 partly to sell gasoline, Cracker Barrel located stores along interstate exits and capitalized on nostalgia during a period of rapid urbanization. The interstate system drained small towns of commerce and population, replacing unique local culture with uniform chains.

Read at The Atlantic