Like Target, Cracker Barrel Suffered From Brand Amnesia

Imagine the Disney logo without the castle, or Wendy’s without the pigtailed redhead, or Starbucks without its green mermaid. Now you have some idea of the dismay that greeted the recent attempt by Cracker Barrel—a billion dollar, 650-store restaurant/convenience store chain—to retire its distinctive silhouette brand of a mythical “old-timer” and his barrel.

In the absurd way that such sideshows get blown out of proportion, this one briefly became fodder for the endless squabble. Cracker Barrel, commentators groused, had gone “woke,” somehow betraying its roots in the American heartland.

Social media users judged the new text-only logo “soulless.” Tommy Lowe, co-founder of the first Cracker Barrel, told a Nashville television reporter, “They’re trying to modernize to be like the competition—Cracker Barrel doesn’t have any competition.”

Tommy Lowe’s take was spot on.

For years, when my wife and I took our kids and drove the eight-plus-hour drive to the beach for summer vacations, Cracker Barrel was our go-to for meals and old-time candy. The restaurants are ginned-up to look and feel like a country store—old tin signs and license plates, sepia-toned pictures, rocking chairs, and all the rest. It was fun, it was different from any other option, the food was simple—fried chicken, cornbread, casseroles, and breakfast all day—and the portions were country-style big.

It didn’t take Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino long to get the message, announcing within days of rolling out the new logo that the old logo—created in 1977—would remain the standard.

Retail industry history is replete with examples of such brand amnesia.

One of the more prominent ones is the drama still unfolding at Target Stores. Once upon a time, Target had carved out a popular niche in fashion, positioning itself as upscale from Walmart by selling Macy’s-quality merchandise at discount prices. The company earned the aspirational French-sounding nickname “Tar-zhay.”

As competition heated up with Walmart, Target made what may be viewed by some in hindsight a profound blunder, another case of brand amnesia. In 1995, the company decided it would try to compete with Walmart by adding grocery sections to its stores. Walmart had been selling groceries since 1988.

Today, Target is struggling with weak sales and a low-margin grocery operation that is growing but ranks far behind the field and way behind Walmart. The company reported $24 billion in food sales last year as part of trailing 12-month revenue of $106 billion. Walmart’s fiscal 2025 grocery sales were $276 billion with total revenue of $680 billion and growing steadily.

The logo fiasco at Cracker Barrel was part of a long-term $700 million commitment by Cracker Barrel to re-energize a “heritage” brand that had gotten stale and was earning poor marks from customers on food and value. Last year, foot traffic since 2019 had fallen by 16%, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Someone at Cracker Barrel had to have missed something. If they had not, they might have emerged from their brand amnesia and realized that the company needed first to find out how to delight its customers again.

As for marketing, Cracker Barrel’s quirky style could be considered its biggest strength at a time when people are hungry for all things authentic, or things that feel that way.

A fun, family-friendly ad campaign pitting the country-style dining experience against the institutional feel of fast-food outlets might have fun and effective.

Perhaps even engaging its customers to understand what they are missing might have helped as well.