Southern-themed restaurant chain Cracker Barrel has changed its logo–and furious MAGA mouthpieces cannot stomach it.
This week, Cracker Barrel unveiled a new logo that loses the image of an old man and a barrel while keeping just the name of the chain, still with the familiar gold and brown color tones. The typeface has also been modernized. The company had described the image of the man “representing the old country store experience where folks would gather around and share stories.”
While the Trump administration and its supporters are absolutely fine with changing the names of military bases, ships and even the Gulf of Mexico, Cracker Barrel’s ditching of the barrel man for the first time since 1977 has crossed a MAGA line.
Nashville designer Bill Holley created the logo featuring an old-timer wearing overalls in 1977 to depict a feeling of nostalgia. The logo has actually been tweaked five times over the years, including putting “Old Country Store” in capitals, increasing the size of the man and capitalizing the ‘R’ in “Barrel” for one update. The new iteration is the first time it features text only since the restaurant chain opened in 1969.
A press release from the company claims the 2025 logo “is now rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.”
However, not every one was convinced about the new imagery minus the man or the barrel, including Donald Trump Jr. who posted on X, “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?”
Right wing YouTuber Benny Johnson was also in a flap, posting, “Cracker Barrel completely changed their iconic logo for the first time in 47 years… and it’s absolutely horrible. When will they learn?”
The MAGA outrage also featured on ultra conservative X account Woke War Room, who Trump Jr. reposted. They claimed Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino, who has been in the role for two years, has “scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding.”
Masino came to the chain from Taco Bell, and has a 30 year career including leadership roles at Mattel, Starbucks and Sprinkles Cupcakes.
As well as posting the company’s pro-LGBTQ+ policies, Woke War Room took offense at Masino keeping a DEI regime that promises to “identify, recruit, and advance” hires by race. Their caption states Masino should “resign and be replaced with leadership that will restore Cracker Barrel’s tradition.”
Former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner posted on X on Wednesday, “People can’t afford housing, groceries, and are going bankrupt if they get cancer. So naturally, conservatives are mad about Cracker Barrel’s logo.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Cracker Barrel for comment.
The Cracker Barrel Instagram account has also been inundated with unhappy customers, who want the barrel and “grandpa” back on the logo.
There are around 660 company-owned Cracker Barrel locations in 43 states. The company reported total revenue of $821.1 million for the third fiscal quarter of 2025.
In August last year, the chain began remodeling store interiors, switching out the dark Southern vibe for a modern farmhouse aesthetic, annoying some customers online who missed the previous vibe.
Masino said last year the changes to the stores and menu were happening as the chain was “not as relevant as we once were.”
The company are supporting the new makeover. “We believe in the goodness of country hospitality, a spirit that has always defined us. Our story hasn’t changed. Our values haven’t changed,” CMO Sarah Moore said in a press release, claiming the chain was “honoring our legacy while bringing fresh energy, thoughtful craftsmanship and heartfelt hospitality to our guests.”
The chain has also hired country singer Jordan Davis to appear in commercials as part of their rebranding.
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