Change is hard. Even change you welcome: getting your driver’s license, buying your first drink without a fake ID, moving out of your parents’ house, going to college, landing your first real job, getting married, having a kid. Life’s milestones are all marked by change. And they all come with stress, uncertainty, doubt, and, if you’re like most Americans, credit card debt.
And then there’s bad change. Change that is definitely unwelcome: the death of a loved one, divorce, getting laid off, being diagnosed with cancer, war, natural disaster, another Trump Administration, the Cracker Barrel logo changing.
Oh, you think that last example isn’t important enough to belong on that list?
Think again.
Okay, okay. Corporate rebrands don’t usually come to mind when people think of life-altering change, at least not on a personal level. But you’d never know judging by the reaction to Cracker Barrel, a restaurant that has country-inspired food and decor meant to invoke an idyllic time that never existed in the southern United States, changing to a simplified, more modern logo.
This is not the first time Cracker Barrel has changed their logo. In the company’s 56 year history, it has had six different logos, counting the latest one.
But this latest iteration set conservative extremists off. The new logo just says Cracker Barrel without the image of a presumably white man and a barrel (or, as many have joked, a cracker and a barrel). This change feeds the conservative belief that white people are being erased and discriminated against and that “white culture” is under attack in the U.S. This is the same reason they are so mad about Confederate statues being taken down and want so badly to put them back up. It’s also why they want to stop teaching kids about how bad slavery was and demolish anything related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in government, schools, and businesses.
In the conservative mind, there was once a time that was perfect. The “Golden Age” Trump keeps saying he’s going to bring us back to. But the fact remains that to go backwards in time would mean that we also undo generations of progress in the areas of civil rights, environmental protection, and women’s rights. Conservatives are pining for the good ol’ days of the 1950s not despite things like segregation and women having no bodily autonomy, they want to go back to the 1950’s because of those things.
So, yeah, with the Cracker Barrel rebrand, conservatives are mad as hell and they’re not going to eat Momma’s Pancake Breakfast anymore!
Even Donald Trump weighed in on it. You know, like a normal president does.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity.”
If this all seems silly, well, it is. On the surface at least. But it’s part of a larger pattern. Conservatives hate change. When things change, it upsets their narrow view of how the world should be. To conservatives, there is a natural order of things that shall not be infringed. And, coincidentally, this natural order privileges them above all others. Challenge that order, and you get labeled as woke, the worst thing you can be.
As Jason Read, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern Maine, put it on Bluesky, “The Cracker Barrel thing makes it clear that a functioning definition of ‘woke’ is just change, any change.”
Yup.
Cracker Barrel, like all companies that hope to survive amidst unavoidable and inevitable change, is just trying to adapt to people’s changing tastes, lifestyles, and desires. It’s a totally normal thing that makes good business sense when done right.
And it’s not something that’s limited to “woke” companies. Hobby Lobby rebranded in recent memory, changing from a blue and orange outlined logo that looked dated and cheap to a more simplified orange and white logo. But since Hobby Lobby is a company run by conservative extremists (remember this is the company that filed a successful lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court so that they did not have to follow the Affordable Care Act’s mandate to cover birth control in their insurance plans), there was no outrage, no screaming that they’d gone woke.
In fact, whether rebrands succeed or fail is usually not based on whether they’re woke or not. Sometimes rebrands fall flat just because of poor design or a bad concept. Think Tropicana or HBO (or is it max? HBO max? hBo mAx?).
And yes, plenty of people have strong opinions when a brand they are familiar with changes. But usually these opinions are just part of the ever-present mumble and grumble of people who enjoy complaining. Most of the time, the only people who remember it ever happening are advertising nerds (hi!).
Lo and behold, Cracker Barrel did, indeed, go back to the previous logo, caving to the pressure almost immediately. Does this prove that the anti-woke crowd kicking up a fuss was right all along? No. It was a business decision. They know who their customer base is. And much of that customer base loves Donald Trump. Going forward with the new logo would be seen as openly defying the President, and we all know how petty Trump can be. Best case scenario for Cracker Barrel is that Trump praises them for following his advice and encourages people to go enjoy some junk food disguised as home cooking.
Which, by the way, is not normal. It is not normal (or legal) for a president to use their office to promote a specific product, business, or service. Nor is it normal for a business to make decisions based on whether or not it will make a president mad at them. Unfortunately, these are not normal times.
Right now, the United States is in its overt fascism era, and fascism depends on an endless cycle of outrage and grievance, whether it’s the demonization of trans people or the big lie that Trump won the election in 2020. The more outrage they can manufacture, the more they can justify fascist actions like arming the National Guard to patrol D.C. or rounding up and deporting immigrants who are in no way a threat.
Not only are individual people grappling with this reality, but organizations, municipal entities, elected leaders, political candidates, schools, and businesses of all sizes are contending with what that means for them. Do they go along to get along, thereby perpetuating fascism and undermining their values and reputations? Or do they fight against this ugly tide?
There is only one ethical and moral choice. And it’s the harder one.
For those who want to stand up and stand out, perhaps a rebrand is in order? Perhaps it's time to make it widely known what you stand for and why. Helping you do exactly that is why The Guerrilla Politic exists.
We’ve helped clients successfully rebrand to better represent their mission and values, like Michigan’s Progressive Women’s Coalition (PWC). Formerly the Progressive Women’s Caucus, they came to us wanting a refreshed logo.
During our branding workshop with them, it became clear that PWC wanted to be an organization that interfaced with the public in order to build support for progressive ideas. That’s when our copywriter pointed out that the word “caucus” felt insular and wonky and suggested “coalition,” instead. Our client decided to change their name because not only did “coalition” better encapsulate what they’re all about, but it also kept their acronym intact.
We put a lot of thought and care into the work we do with our clients. We not only want them to be happy with our work, we want our work to help them accomplish their mission to do better for their communities and build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive society.
And, yeah, that’s pretty woke. But at TGP, woke isn’t a bad word. Sure, fascists use it like a slur. But to be woke is to not only be cognizant of inequality and injustice, but also to care about our fellow humans enough to work against that inequality and injustice. To be woke is to have empathy and to be moved by that empathy to action. Fascists think that caring about other people is a weakness and find joy in others’ suffering. We think caring about other people and working towards less suffering in this world is basic human decency. We’re very comfortable with the side of history we stand on.
TGP is firmly against fascism, and if you are, too, we want to work with you.