Q. How can you tell that the new Cracker Barrel logo is a classic woke catastrophe?
A. When even the Morning Joe crew mocks it.
You might think that the show would applaud the redesign. After all, it eliminates the image of an old, white, Southern male—and you know what, in liberal minds, those guys stand for!
But no! On today's show, Jonathan Lemire led off the discussion by sardonically saying, "Let's be clear. It's now Cracker Barrel with no sign of a barrel." That got the panel, Eugene Robinson in particular, laughing [see screencap.]
Katty Kay tried at first to be supportive, saying, "Looks fine to me," but then honesty got the better of her, and she had to admit:
"I think the barrel looks kind of nice, too. The new logo looks kind of boring, actually. I'm going to be honest: looks kind of boring."
Lemire piled on!
"Loses the phrase [Old Country Store], loses the character, loses the barrel."
Ouch!
Lemire and Kay both acted bewildered and said they were "not quite sure" about Don Jr. casting the rebranded logo as a DEI move. Ignorance is bliss? There was a very good reason for his comment. As has been reported:
"Cracker Barrel launched its Diversity and Inclusion Strategy in June 2021, which included an effort to 'better identify, recruit and advance strong, racially and ethnically diverse talent.'"
That was just one of several woke Cracker Barrel moves, which included encouraging employees to join one of eight in-house identity groups, including LGBTQ+ Alliance, Hola, and Women's Connect.
Note: In a painful, grinning-past-the-graveyard appearance on Good Morning America, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino claimed:
"People like what we're doing . . . The buzz is so good, not only from our customers, but from our team."
Yup! So good, that the company's stock plunged 12% in one day!
Place your bet: Which will last longer: the new logo, or the CEO?
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
6:29 am EDTJONATHAN LEMIRE: Some logo rebranding is garnering a lot of attention this week. Cracker Barrel shares plummeted yesterday after the restaurant chain unveiled its new logo. The image no longer shows a man leaning against a barrel, and gets rid of the phrase Old Country Store.
Conservatives criticized the move. The president's son even slammed it as a DEI effort—not quite sure why.
Meanwhile, the University of Notre Dame is switching up its Fighting Irish logo.
. . .
But Katty, it's the Cracker Barrel one that got a lot of attention yesterday, even impacting its stock price. Not quite sure the DEI part of it, in terms of its attack.
But let's be clear. It's now Cracker Barrel with no sign of a barrel [panel members laugh.]
KATTY KAY: Just a cracker, maybe. And would a cracker be a DEI thing? There's the whole backstory is, the Cracker Barrel was associated with Southern cooking, and was a place that was, you know, associated with the South, and now they're trying to modernize and DEI themselves, I guess, in the parlance of MAGA.
And I guess the consumers didn't like that. They still want the barrel. They still want the good old South-looking image of Cracker Barrel. That's what I read. That's what I read.
Looks fine to me. Although, I don't know. I think the barrel looks kind of nice, too.
LEMIRE: Well, as we've talked about --
KAY: The new logo looks kind of boring, actually. I'm going to be honest. It looks kind of boring.
LEMIRE: Loses the phrase, loses the character, loses the barrel.
And we've spent a lot of time this week talking about how Governor Gavin Newsom of California has been at the vanguard on social media right now, attacking Trump. He was, I'll note, the one Democrat, the first Democrat, anyway, who weighed in on this, saying he didn't like the rebranding either. Of course, doing so in a Trumpian tone.
