How did I ever miss the breaking news of the Cracker Barrel logo controversy?
I haven’t stepped foot inside a Cracker Barrel in 15 years, so I have no chicken skin in the game when it comes to their logo. No biscuits and gravy either way.
My kids, however, love Cracker Barrel. They love Cracker Barrel so much that when my mom took them there to eat the last time they visited her, they brought us back food. How delightful.
Of course, the food they returned with wasn’t sealed in a plastic container for us to reheat. It was loudly regurgitated into our downstairs bathroom toilet almost immediately upon entrance into our home.
Do you know what I’m saying?
They puked their guts up.
Cracker Barrel and the culture war
I didn’t realize there was a Cracker Barrel controversy until one of my co-workers who works in brand design mentioned it.
I googled it, then unblocked a news website I have blocked by default, so I could read more than the headline: “A proxy for America’s culture war: why Cracker Barrel’s new logo sparked ire on the right.”
That serious, huh?
Who comes up with these headlines?
I won’t get into the whole culture war nonsense other than to ask a question to my non-American readers: do other countries talk like this? I know I have my fair share of readers from Canada, England, New Zealand, and Australia that visit my site. What’s your take France?
Is this a decidedly American thing: this culture war garbage? I’ve been hearing about the culture war since I was a kid.
The cost of living and healthcare is sky-high in America and gets worse as each decade passes. Yet, on any given week, there’s more outrage over the latest corporate marketing decision than the very real topics that affect our lives on a daily basis.
Struggling to meet your family’s healthcare deductible or too scared to even visit the doctor because you don’t know how much insurance will chip in? Did you hear about what Target implemented or is Chick-fil-A more your thing?
I think it’s intentional. Drummed up by the media power players and latched hold to by a smorgasbord of unscrupulous politicians on the left and right. A distraction to keep people from talking about issues that genuinely affect their day-to-day.
A diversion.
Always has been.
Probably always will be.
Don’t look here.
Look over there.
The updated logo is bad design. We can all agree on that, right? Oh, come on.
Leaving the culture war kerfuffle aside, my thoughts on the original logo vs the new logo (that has since been scrapped) is this: the new logo has no personality. It looks unfinished, like it was a templated starting point that someone was still working on and the boss was like, “Send me what you got. I gotta send something to the board by 4 PM.”
I was reminded of the Cleveland Cavaliers logo + shield from their 2017-18 NBA season. The difference is that the Cleveland Cavaliers logo looked like it was a finished product. Bland, a bit meh regardless, but it did look complete.
And while I may not eat there — and my heart and cholesterol thank me for this decision — the classic Cracker Barrel logo does have an Americana feel to it. It’s detailed more than most logos. But it does convey what’s inside: part country store, part comfort food.
There’s a nostalgic, old timey vibe to the classic logo which has mostly gone unchanged since 1977 — save for a few lines and shadows here and there.
Perhaps that’s why it became part of the so-called culture war: an assumption that the new logo was wiping away decades of tradition. A tradition of pants expanding at the waist due to innovative elastic technology.
Personally, I think the backlash could’ve been simpler and politics kept out: the new logo was yawnworthy. Like Golden Skillet going into the battlefield with a shield and no pan handle.
If the chicken fried chicken is that good (yes, that’s a real dish for people reading this not in America), Cracker Barrel aficionados could’ve boycotted the chain until their LDL cholesterol dropped below 100 and their arteries cleared and the logo was changed back to the classic.
No need to invoke politics into the discussion on either side. The new logo was a room temperature pork chop, served with a side of watery coleslaw and overly chewy fried okra.
My mom’s chicken and dumplings are far superior anyway.
But that’s my humble opinion.
This just in: the war on Christmas and coffee cups.
I’m just kidding. Can’t forget about “America’s Halloween Decline: How Suburbia and Trunk-or-Treat Foreshadowed Childhood’s Demise.”
That I think I can get behind because trunk-or-treat is some bulls—t.
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