A Tale of Two Restaurant Chains

Spitting in the face of core customers is a major faux pas in the business world.

The disastrous rebrand of Cracker Barrel has become viral news on social media as the masses express disdain toward corporate changes that have stripped the cluttered hokey charm from the highway-adjacent restaurant chain and replaced it with soulless postmodern dreck, throwing 47 years of history down the toilet in one fell swoop.

The standard Cracker Barrel logo with their signature phrase “Old Country Store” and a gentleman relaxing in a wooden chair with his arm atop a barrel has been replaced with something far more generic that could have been produced by an AI image generator or in five lazy minutes of work on Photoshop. This is the result of a planned reimagining of the Cracker Barrel brand, one that the corporate brass is claiming is an overwhelming success.

"The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive that they like what we are doing… I actually happened to be in Orlando last week with all of our managers… And the number one question I got asked was: ‘How can I get a remodel? When can I get a remodel? How can I get on the list?’ because the feedback and the buzz is so good, not only from our customers but from our team members. They want to work in a wonderful restaurant,” Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Massino said during an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America.

Under Massino’s leadership, Cracker Barrel has embarked upon a $700 million-dollar rebranding effort to create a more “lighter, brighter, and evolved” experience. They seek to be relevant in the cultural conversations of the day, taking the emphasis off of providing crispy fried chicken and savory country gravy to their patrons and instead putting that effort instead towards sponsoring LGBT pride parades and other organizations promoting the homosexual agenda.

The fleet of cat ladies and Rachel Maddow lookalikes who embarked on this project must have been very proud of themselves for their benchmark in cultural marxism as they tore apart a prime piece of Americana piece by piece, but now the chickens have come home to roost, and they are receiving well-earned public scorn. The restaurant chain may be tumbling toward bankruptcy as the stock price has dropped precipitously while these woke changes take place, dropping from $142 in 2021 to just $59 today.

Meanwhile, Steak and Shake faces a massive resurgence. They have gone in the opposite direction as Cracker Barrel. Facing a loss of momentum and being outcompeted by newer, hipper burger joints with better appeal to a younger audience, Steak and Shake got out in front of a growing trend for more natural food without the additives and preservatives that have made Americans into the most overweight and least healthy population in the history of mankind.

Steak and Shake has started to use beef tallow to cook their fries like McDonald’s used to do in their heyday. They have also begun phasing out all seed oils from their foods. They have started to accept Bitcoin as payment for their menu, a forward-thinking move that will pay dividends well into the future. Steak and Shake has also stripped down their stores and made them more efficient, removing tableside service and adding kiosks for a more fast-food style that cut costs at a time when stores were being shuttered left and right. The result has been extraordinary.

"Whether it's changes maturing or Steak 'n Shake gaining publicity (and customers) from some of its recent moves, like going to beef tallow or accepting Bitcoin payments, same-store sales have started to climb. The brand said comps gained 10.7% in Q2. They were up 3.9% in Q1 and 5.4% in Q3 2024. The comparable Q2 2024: 7%," said Danny Klein, who works as Editorial Director for Food News Media.

Both Steak and Shake and Cracker Barrel made fundamental changes to their business models that could have offended long-time customers. The major difference is the leadership team at Steak and Shake realized which way the cultural winds were blowing. They adeptly understood that by embracing MAGA values that the public would respond positively, putting Steak and Shake on the map for millions of consumers who may have otherwise ignored the chain.

On the other hand, Cracker Barrel spat in the face of MAGA values, putting in place the reviled corporate culture that is always thrilled to push DEI as the new national religion. This may have been acceptable at Starbucks, Macy’s, Taco Bell, Mattel or Sprinkles Cupcakes – all on the resume of CEO Massino, but it is not acceptable at a place like Cracker Barrel with an older base of customers attracted to the restaurant’s classic aesthetic that reminded them of a simpler, better time.

Spitting in the face of core customers is a major faux pas in the business world, and childless career-driven feminists in the workplace remain oblivious to this basic fact.