Cracker Barrel removed Uncle Herschel from its logo as part of a contemporary redesign intended to attract younger customers with a sleeker image. The change provoked conservative anger, with Donald Trump Jr. criticizing the update and Donald Trump Sr. suggesting the company admit a mistake. The chain, founded in 1969, is known for Southern comfort food, antique decor, rocking chairs and a nostalgic 'good old days' image. The rebranding collided with that cultivated identity. For some, the restaurant's nostalgia represents an idealized past; for others it evokes histories of exclusion and racial inequity.
Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding.
Businesses change their logos all the time and there was nothing noteworthy about the bland new image. So why did Cracker Barrel's shift prompt such anger on the right? It starts with the company's position in the popular imagination. Cracker Barrel is part of the cultural landscape, says Neeraj Bharadwaj, Proffitt's professor in marketing at the University of Tennessee's Haslam school of business. It's an institution.
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