I have watched the news about the new Cracker Barrel logo with some interest and not a little humor. If you have missed out on the hooraw, here’s a quick summary. The Cracker Barrel chain of restaurants and stores changed their logo to update and modernize it.

The reaction to the new logo came swiftly and with force. Cracker Barrel customers did not like it one bit. Critics included the current occupant of the White House. Their negativity and criticism were so strong and immediate that the company did a quick about-face and went back to the old one.

No Subtlety at Cracker Barrel

Now, I freely admit that I have never eaten at a Cracker Barrel or even set foot in one. but I understand their marketing concept: an old-timey ambience symbolized by the man in the rocking chair on their logo next to a barrel. No subtlety there. But then, subtlety has no place in this concept. The restaurants offer food, sentimentality, and nostalgia for the past reinforced by the old-fashioned items sold in the attached stores.

New  England doesn’t have many Cracker Barrel Restaurants. There are only 10 spread across the six New England States. It is just not a good fit here. Cracker Barrel’s limited presence in New England reflects both regional tastes and strategic caution.

The company has a tough challenge in New England as a Southern institution trying to expand into Yankee territory—without losing its soul. Plus, the Southern menu just doesn’t appeal to most tastes up here. We prefer clam chowder and shrimp fra diavolo to chicken-fried steak and grits. Lobster shacks light up out souls, not old-time country stores.

But I digress.

Spotting the Whopper

In my high-tech marketing career, I participated in and ran multiple corporate branding campaigns that included developing new and updated logos. That gave me a good vantage point for spotting what Cracker Barrel did wrong. And it was a whopper.

First, however, just let me say that logo changes often elicit negative reactions from people who liked the old one just the way it was. They don’t welcome change or updates, or modernization. If you accept that this will happen, you can ride out the disapproval and wait until the grumblers get used to the new logo and find something else to complain about. Just make sure the CEO, the legal department and PR folks understand this and are prepared for it.

Adding Hot Sauce to Grits

Plus, the new Cracker Barrel logo followed quickly upon updates to the restaurants themselves. Gone were the antiques, farm implements, and old signs. In came sleek new interiors that said, well, absolutely nothing about the brand. The generic restaurants were clean and modern, but they did not reinforce the company’s core message. Neither did the new interiors strike loyal customers as an improvement.

The logo added hot sauce to the grits.

1. It eliminated the iconic man in a chair, the Old Timer, leaning on a barrel who was so popular.
2. The barrel itself morphed from a recognizable object to an abstract shape not immediately recognizable as a barrel.
3. The name appeared in a slimmer typeface that spoke more of fitness and movement than comfort.
4. The words “Old Country Store” disappeared.

Now really, anyone can see that those changes did not reflect the Cracker Barrel image. It eliminated all the items that evoked the past and a regional heritage.

Spotting the Whopper

Now here comes the whopper. Ready?

5. The new logo did away with the emotional triggers that spoke to Cracker Barrel customers so deeply. It robbed them of something they had liked and that drew them to eat at the restaurants.

Cracker Barrel now presented a generic face to its customers. It gave them no more reason to eat there than at any other chain restaurant.

Cracker Barrel Into the Future

I can just imagine sitting in the room where this decision was made—because I have been in those rooms. Although the company hasn’t publicly named a specific design or marketing agency, and attributed the design to a collaboration with branding experts, someone certainly stood in front and pitched the logo.

Seemingly, it aimed to “modernize the brand while retaining its nostalgic charm.” My guess is that at some point he or she also said the new design was clean and modern, that it would take the company into the future.

No one, including CEO Julie Felss Masino, seemed to notice that the future was not a place where Cracker Barrel customers much wanted to go when they sat down to their country-fried breakfast or chicken n’ dumplings.

Ignoring your customers is bad enough. Denigrating them for their emotional attachment to your product strikes me as much, much worse, Only the airlines can get away with making their customers feel bad.

Will Cracker Barrel Crack Down

What would I have done? I would have gotten that guy out of the chair and had him lean against the barrel standing up. The Old Timer would remain but with a little more energy. Then I would have cleaned up the design of the barrel. I would have simplified the logotype just as they did. And I would have changed the weird shape behind the logotype. That would have retained all the familiar and beloved elements while making the logo easier to print and to sew onto hats and shirts.

Under any other circumstances, I would also have advised Cracker Barrel and Ms. Masino to stick with it and wait out the hooraw. In this instance, however, I think they made the right decision. Throwing out months of work and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars beats alienating your customers further. Not to mention getting them involved in the country’s culture wars.

Will anyone get demoted at Cracker Barrel. Will the company part ways with any of the folks involved in this debacle. Who knows? The CEO launched the rebranding initiative so this decision will be up to the board. I wonder.