The Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has removed pages from its website referencing LGBT+ Pride and diversity, equity and inclusion, amid backlash on the MAGA right against a logo redesign critics perceived as being too “woke.”
Sometime this week, a dedicated Pride page was deleted from the company’s website, according to a CNN review of archival versions.
“On behalf of Cracker Barrel’s LGBTQ+ Alliance & DEIB Team, we want to celebrate YOU for being YOU,” the old page read. “It is our greatest Mission to ensure that Pleasing People means ‘all people.’”
Mentions of LGBTQ+ and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging groups were also scrubbed from the website.
“In connection with the Company’s brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing out-of-date content,” a company spokesperson said in response to the report. “Several months ago, the Company also made changes to our Business Resource Groups that now focus all sponsorships or events on our corporate giving initiatives: addressing food insecurity, supporting community needs through food, and reducing food waste.”
The shift in language comes after conservatives, including Donald Trump, railed against an updated Cracker Barrel logo that removed the chain’s “Uncle Herschel” mascot, an older man leaning against a barrel.
Some conservatives claimed the change was because the longstanding Southern chain had suddenly gone “woke.”
“[W]e must break the Barrel,” conservative activist Chris Rufo declared last Thursday. “It’s not about this particular restaurant chain – who cares – but about creating massive pressure against companies that are considering any move that might appear to be ‘wokification.’ The implicit promise: Go woke, watch your stock price drop 20 percent, which is exactly what is happening now.”
“She is destroying a great American brand,” MAGA influencer Benny Johnson told CNN of Cracker Barrel’s CEO, claiming the logo change had “erased the white guy” from the company’s branding.
Soon, the Trump administration joined the pile-on.
“Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before,” the president wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, earlier on Tuesday.
“They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right,” he added. “Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity. Have a major News Conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a WINNER again.”
The Trump administration then posted a play on the logo controversy on X featuring a cartoon Donald Trump leaning against a barrel next to a sign reading ‘America First’ in the brand’s signature brown and orange colors, along with the caption, “Go woke, go broke.”
That same day, the company announced it was reverting to its old logo.
“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,” the company wrote on X. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘Old Timer’ will remain.”
During the 2024 presidential campaign and the opening months of the Trump administration, numerous companies have pulled back on public commitments and messaging related to DEI topics, as the White House has pushed the government and private companies alike to steer clear of identity-focused work and advocacy.
Outside of Cracker Barrel, the Trump administration has shown an unusual willingness to directly dictate the affairs of major U.S. companies.
The White House negotiated a 10 percent stake in struggling U.S. chip maker Intel and has sought foreign revenues from the sale of Nvidia and AMD chips to China.
