Cracker Barrel’s Rebrand: Shock Value, Strategy, or Just Grandma’s Chair in the Dumpster?

The first time I ever set foot in a Cracker Barrel, I wasn’t living in the South yet. I was still in corporate, traveling on business in Texas with a colleague and friend, @Rick. After a meeting he insisted we stop for lunch, and his first choice was Cracker Barrel.

I had never seen one before, never been inside. To be honest, it was a culture shock. I didn’t understand the draw… and here was this intelligent, respected guy, and he was practically giddy about eating there. I didn’t get it then, and to this day, I still don’t.

The second time I went was years later, after I’d moved to Charlotte. My former wife’s father came down from New Hampshire, and the one place he wanted to go for breakfast was Cracker Barrel. I remember walking in and thinking, yep, still not for me.

And that’s the thing, I don’t have the deep nostalgic attachment so many Southerners clearly do. I’m not mesmerized by the place, and left to my own devices, I’d never go. But somebody, somewhere, in fact, a lot of somebodies, clearly love it. It’s a Southern institution. I see them dotted from Charlotte to Florida and everywhere all the way to Alabama, full of people who treat it like home.

So when I saw the new Cracker Barrel rebrand and the tidal wave of backlash, I wasn’t coming at it with nostalgia in my veins. I came at it from a neutral position, and with the question, is this really the disaster people are saying it is?

The Backlash Is Real

There’s no ignoring the data. The logo change, stripping away the iconic rocking chair and “Old Country Store” tagline in favor of a sleek hexagon, was met with an immediate storm of criticism.

The stock dropped 7–12%, nearly $94 million in market value vanished, and the internet lit up with ridicule.

But let’s be honest… Cracker Barrel wasn’t exactly trending in the Wall Street Journal or splashed across LinkedIn before this. Now, suddenly, everyone has an opinion about it, and when everyone has an opinion, mostly the same, I lean in and wonder what alternative interpretation is here?

This is where storytelling in branding becomes important. If you don’t explain the why behind a bold move, people will write their own version of the story — and not always in your favor.

The Nuance

@JulieFelssMasino, the CEO behind this, has a track record, she doesn’t just wing it. At Taco Bell, she helped drive eight straight quarters of growth, launching Nacho Fries, expanding international units, building partnerships with delivery platforms, even experimenting with vegetarian menus. She scaled Sprinkles Cupcakes. She led Starbucks in China. Her thing is modernization, and she’s good at it.

At Taco Bell, she helped drive eight straight quarters of growth.

So maybe she’s not just wrecking grandma’s brand for fun. Maybe she’s trying to drag a company stuck in amber into a new era. Which raises the uncomfortable but necessary question, isn’t that her job? A good brand strategy consulting approach would weigh heritage against innovation before making such a drastic leap.

The Stakes of Playing It Safe

Here’s a reality, Cracker Barrel is a public company, she’s beholden to shareholders. That means in an industry drowning in sameness, McDonald’s, Denny’s, IHOP, fast casual chains competing for scraps of attention, she has to show movement.

Sometimes that movement looks like shock or disruption. Sometimes friction is the strategy, because let’s be honest friend, when was the last time you saw a Cracker Barrel campaign make national headlines? When was the last time you saw them in the public eye? In a weird way, maybe the outrage is the ad.

Sometimes movement looks like shock or disruption. Sometimes friction is the strategy.

But then we get to the deeper question… at what cost?

This is where the best branding strategies often walk a tightrope — balancing disruption with loyalty, making sure innovation doesn’t erase identity.

Nostalgia vs. Innovation: Where’s the Line?

This my friend, is the razor’s edge of branding. On one hand, symbols matter, that rocking chair wasn’t a logo element, it was shorthand for belonging, ritual, memory, reminds me of another southern institution named NASCAR, but strip it away abruptly and you risk alienating the very people who gave you your longevity.

On the other hand, you can’t just ride nostalgia into the sunset. Aging customer bases don’t pay the bills forever and relevance requires evolution. Brands that refuse to modernize, think Sears, Kmart, Blockbuster don’t survive, then all of you bandwagon naysayers would be saying, see I told you. Hindsight is 20-20 bro (to use the modern lexicon of my teenager).

You can’t just ride nostalgia into the sunset.

The question isn’t should you evolve, it’s how you evolve — and that’s exactly the kind of insight a personal branding strategist or corporate strategist might bring into the conversation.

If It Were Me in the Room

If I were in that war room with Julie, here’s how I’d have played it:

• Phase it in. Introduce the modern look alongside the legacy icon, let customers get used to the idea instead of waking up shocked.

• Tell the story. Don’t just say, “Here’s the new logo.” Say, “We’re keeping what you love, and we’re growing it for the next generation.”

• Honor the soul. Keep the rocking chair alive somewhere, even if just symbolically, as a bridge between past and future.

That’s how you carry people with you instead of leaving them behind, that’s what Captain Kirk taught me, before he was replaced by Picard.

The Bigger Lesson

It’s easy to throw judgment from the outside, I catch myself doing it too, it’s human nature. But we’re not in the war room. We don’t see the numbers. We don’t know if Cracker Barrel was already bleeding customers, or if their core demographic wasn’t going out as much anymore. Maybe Masino looked at those numbers and realized the real risk wasn’t a logo change, it was doing nothing.

That’s the part most people miss, good branding [& marketing] isn’t always about being liked in the moment. It’s about creating distinction in a world of endless sameness. Sometimes that means friction, sometimes it means outrage, sometimes it means your customers scream before they settle in.

That’s the part most people miss, good branding [& marketing] isn’t always about being liked in the moment.

So is this reckless, maybe, seems unlikely. Is it visionary, maybe. Is it worth watching, absolutely. One thing I do know, not everything works out, but you have to take [calculated] risks, you have to put it out there, the market responds in reckless ways sometimes, there are many subtleties and nuances that drive human behavior.

Because at the end of the day, branding isn’t about logos, it’s about identity, and identity work is always messy. It disrupts, it forces choice, it makes people feel things, and if Cracker Barrel has people arguing on LinkedIn about rocking chairs and cornbread, well, in its own way, maybe that’s the most relevant it’s been in decades.

At the end of the day, branding isn’t about logos, it’s about identity, and identity work is always messy. It disrupts, it forces choice, it makes people feel things.

My takeaway: Branding is never about erasing the past, it’s about carrying your soul into the future without losing it. Cracker Barrel may yet find that balance. Until then, the rocking chair is gone, but the conversation is alive.

About Deevo

Deevo is not your typical brand strategist. He’s part storyteller, part mirror, part provocateur, the person leaders call when they’re tired of faking it, tired of polishing what doesn’t shine, and ready to build a brand that actually feels like them.

After a corporate career that left him restless, Deevo rebuilt himself through entrepreneurship, storytelling, and a relentless exploration of identity. Over the past 15 years, he has launched and scaled creative businesses, photographed hundreds of leaders and brands, delivered keynotes, and coached founders through the messy work of aligning who they are with how they show up.

His philosophy is simple but not easy: you are the brand. Your business, your relationships, your results, everything is a reflection of your identity, your story, and the patterns you’ve learned (and can unlearn). Whether he’s leading a mastermind, capturing someone’s essence through photography, or guiding clients through his Becoming You Blueprint™, Deevo combines strategy with soul, clarity with compassion, and a little irreverence to keep it real.

Working with him isn’t about quick hacks or shiny tactics. It’s about excavation, unpacking your story, uncovering blind spots, reprogramming what’s held you back, and building a brand and business that resonate because they’re rooted in truth.

Why Work With Deevo?

Because he won’t just help you look good. He’ll help you be good, aligned, clear, and magnetic. He has walked through failure, reinvention, and growth himself, and he knows the terrain. He’ll challenge you, laugh with you, and pull you forward into the version of yourself your brand has been waiting on.

If you’re ready to stop performing and start embodying your brand, Deevo is the guide you want in your corner.