Hey, Cracker Barrel, time to take DEI off your Menu...

Not double down on Woke radicalism which is already costing your Brand millions.

By Greg Rabidoux

CEO Julie Masino said recently that the feedback to her radical re-branding of Cracker Barrel, a very traditional, Southern Comfort Food restaurant adored by millions, has been overwhelmingly positive. Now, I do not know Ms. Masino personally. Nor do I know who she has apparently been hearing from other than the DEI consultants and left leaning folks in her inner-circle and those on her Board of Directors. But I do know a number of folks, mostly between the ages of 55-75 who hate, you read that correctly, hate, the fact that Cracker Barrel just killed its Barrel, its elderly country guy in a rocking chair on its logo, and much of its inner-restaurant decor and memorabilia. "Too nostalgic and old" said one spokesperson. "To hell with them" said my elderly neighbor.

I also know that just like Bud Light and its radical re-branding with trans-model Dylan Mulvaney (you remember, a biological male wearing an Audrey Hepburn-inspired black cocktail dress with white pearls) cracking open a can of Bud Light was a disaster it didn't take long for the Bud Light beer fizz to hit the proverbial fan. Bud's stocks plummeted and their "radical re-branding" which they initially said was adored by many cost the company billions not just millions. The sound of Bud Light's value hitting rock bottom was a non-binary thud heard 'round the world. Was Julie distracted that week? Too busy to notice?

And so, at a time when major corporations are back-pedaling from wokeism and DEI faster than you can say bye-bye to Bed, Bath, and Beyond leaving California, Julie Masino, former Starbucks of China executive decided now, yep, now, was the best time to completely lay ruin to the beloved Cracker Barrel brand.

Maybe they didn't get the memo that DEI and going woke has, just like socialism and communism, simply not worked wherever it has been tried. Disney, Bud Light, Jaguar, and out utterly failing public schools have all "re-branded" to absolutely dismal outcomes. Meanwhile, those that decided to swim, or should I say, fly against the tide, like American Eagle with Sydney Sweeney saw sales and sticks soar upward.

Maybe Cracker Barrel just doesn't care. Maybe they want to appeal to a whole new legion of customers they are convinced were just waiting for them to "Go Woke" and kill the old guy in the rocking chair and that "stupid barrel" as another posted recently. Maybe.

My concern is that beyond the DEI and Woke agenda, beyond what seems to be the Left's instinct to purge, plow, and tear-down every bit of tradition and Americana (especially, Southern) nostalgia that exists lies something just as dark. maybe worse. Ageism.

What if Julie and her DEI crew really just want to "bury" lots of old, and not getting younger Nanas and Grampas under that old, decaying barrel? I mean, the folks that loved CB ain't exactly the hipsters that pay $8 for a Grande or whatever they call their overpriced small cup of coffee, are they Julie? Companies certainly have the right to change, even commit corporate suicide. Time will tell. But I know this-Steak'N Shake just gained a whole lot of new, pissed-off, hungry and thirsty customers. I'm told the executives embrace their tradition unashamedly. Go figure.

Greg Rabidoux is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and author. Wo, if Cracker Barrel had asked him, he would have been able to whip up their "new" logo in a couple of minutes. But only if his 4 year-old niece was too busy to draw it.