The Japan Times - Trump joins backlash against US restaurant Cracker Barrel

The folksy, homestyle US chain has seen tens of millions of dollars wiped off its share price since it unveiled a new look last week that right-wingers have criticized as "woke."

It was perhaps only a matter of time before Republican Trump weighed in on the issue, which saw Cracker Barrel last week remove the image of an old man sitting on a chair and leaning on a barrel from the famous yellow and brown sign.

"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," Trump said 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. Have a major News Conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a WINNER again."

The White House later posted a mocked-up version of the former logo, replacing the "Uncle Herschel" figure with Trump himself and the words "America First" instead of Cracker Barrel.

It added the caption: "Go Woke, go broke."

The furor comes as Trump's White House leads a crusade against diversity and anything it brands "woke" in both the US government and corporate America.

Trump's son Donald Jr. took to X after the rebrand to demand to know "WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel."

He quoted a post by the "Woke War Room" account that claimed the chain had "scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding."

Cracker Barrel apologized to fans on Monday, saying in a statement it "could've done a better job sharing who we are and who we'll always be."

But it said the new sign, featuring just the text of the brand name in a rounded-off yellow hexagon, was there to stay.

The chain has around 660 US branches. Trump won in 74 percent of counties with a Cracker Barrel in 2024, according to elections analyst Dave Wasserman.

H.Hayashi--JT