‘Bar Rescue’ host Jon Taffer argues Cracker Barrel leadership should be ‘disempowered’ after rebrand disaster on ‘Varney & Co.’
The White House mocked Cracker Barrel on social media with a spoofed logo, just hours after President Donald Trump urged the chain to revert to its old design.
The chain has faced backlash since unveiling a new logo on Aug. 18 that dropped its longtime “Uncle Herschel” character sitting in a chair and leaning against a barrel.
In a post on X, the White House wrote “Go woke, go broke” alongside the spoofed logo.
The shared mock-up has an image of Trump sitting in a wooden chair while leaning on a barrel, replacing Uncle Herschel, who was originally seated in the same spot in the iconic logo.
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The White House created its own Cracker Barrel logo, writing “America First” and “America Is Back,” while placing President Trump in Uncle Herschel’s place, on Tuesday. (White House / Fox News Weather)
Where the logo normally reads “Cracker Barrel,” the spoof replaced it with “America First,” with “AMERICA IS BACK” underneath.
Earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social urging the company to restore its old logo, admit it misread customers, and manage the brand “better than ever before.
“They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity,” the president wrote.
He added, “Have a major News Conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a WINNER again. Remember, in just a short period of time I made the United States of America the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World. One year ago, it was ‘DEAD.’ Good luck!”
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President Donald Trump talks to journalists after signing executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on Monday. On Tuesday, he shared his thoughts on the Cracker Barrel rebrand controversy. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
FOX Business has reached out to Cracker Barrel regarding the White House’s jab at the logo.
On Monday, Cracker Barrel admitted that it “could have done a better job sharing who we are and who we’ll always be” after customers expressed outrage over the restaurant chain’s new logo.
The company said what has not and “will never change” are the values Cracker Barrel was built on when the Lebanon, Tennessee-based chain first opened in 1969.
Those values, the company said, are “hard work, family, and scratch-cooked food made with care.”
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President Donald Trump urged Cracker Barrel to go back to its old logo in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Cracker Barrel found itself at odds with its fans after removing “Uncle Herschel” from its logo. The company unveiled its revamped text-only design, sparking backlash and sinking its stock price.
The original 1969 logo was also text-only, but the 1977 addition of the now-iconic imagery became a staple of its branding.
The chain also redesigned the interior of its restaurants, ditching the kitschy American aesthetic and replacing it with a slick modernist motif.
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Cracker Barrel has stood by its recent moves and said 87% of respondents in their “Our values haven’t changed, and the heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven’t changed,” a spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital research either loved or liked the new logo.
“And Uncle Herschel remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu. He is the face of ‘The Herschel Way,’ the foundation of how our 70,000-plus employees provide the country hospitality for which we are known,” the spokesperson continued.
“Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand’s logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969.”
FOX Business’ Greg Norman and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
