Cracker Barrel joins Bud Light, Target in branding backfires

Cracker Barrel’s $700 million rebranding effort is joining a list of corporate missteps that have sparked public backlash. 

The public outcry is centered on Cracker Barrel’s new logo, which includes a modernized version that no longer features an image of a man resting on a barrel that had been a defining symbol of the brand for nearly 50 years.

In recent years, several major companies have faced backlash over high-profile business decisions, from Target’s retreat on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The moves didn’t just draw fierce criticism and consumer boycotts, but in some cases, impacted sales.  

The fallout from Cracker Barrel’s logo change and restaurant makeover isn’t over. Shares of the food chain plunged Thursday as customer backlash and investor unease drove the chain’s worst losing streak in months. 

Cracker Barrel:

Cracker Barrel was facing backlash after unveiling its new logo, which drops an illustration of a man resting his arm on top of a wooden barrel, a folksy image that has embodied the brand’s southern hospitality for the last 56 years. The change was part of the company’s $700 million transformation across its 660-plus restaurants. Aside from the new logo, the brand refresh includes decluttering dining rooms and a revamped menu, but critics say the rebranding is a risky move for a company already struggling with thin margins.

“Like Bud Light or New Coke, this is yet another example of how abandoning your brand and loyal customers is not the way to grow a business,” Richard Stern, director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. 

Stern argued that by chasing a new market, the restaurant chain has strayed from its roots.

Shares of Cracker Barrel tumbled more than 12% on Thursday, the steepest drop since April, before ending the session down over 7%. 

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Target: 

Target was removed as a sponsor for a pride event in its hometown and faced a prolonged 40-day boycott in response to its decision to scale back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. 

Kiera Fernandez, Target’s chief community impact and equity officer, said in a note to employees in January that the retailer will implement changes as part of its “Belonging at the Bullseye” strategy that adapts to the evolving external landscape. This includes concluding its three-year DEI goals and ending its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives in 2025, as planned.

Target will also change its “Supplier Diversity” team to “Supplier Engagement” to reflect an “inclusive global procurement process across a broad range of suppliers, including increasing our focus on small businesses,” Fernandez said in the note. 

Just a few days after announcing the changes, organizers of the Twin Cities Pride Festival — of which Target has been a longtime sponsor — said the retailer is no longer welcome.

Andi Otto, Twin Cities Pride executive director, told MPR News that he made the decision to boot Target from any involvement in this year’s festivities due to its roll back of DEI initiatives.

Atlanta-based Rev. Jamal Bryant urged consumers to avoid spending money at the retailer for the entirety of Lent, while the “Target Fast” movement said on its website that it wanted Target stockholders to offload their holdings in the retailer as part of the boycott. 

Anheuser-Busch: 

The uproar against Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch InBev started in early April 2023. It created and sent custom beer cans to Dylan Mulvaney to mark “365 days of girlhood.” The campaign caused backlash with the brand’s conversative customer base. Musician Kid Rock posted a viral video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light with a rifle. 

However, the company’s attempt to distance itself from the campaign and stop publicly supporting Mulvaney only angered LGBTQ+ advocates, progressives and allies.

Sales of Bud Light took a hit as Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light in becoming the top-selling beer in the U.S. Bud Light held the title as the top-selling beer in the U.S. on an annual basis for more than two decades.

Ben & Jerry’s

After announcing it would cease distribution of its products in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the company faced boycotts from pro-Israel groups and divestment actions from U.S. states citing anti-BDS laws.

Since its founding in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s has been known for its left-leaning advocacy, and the Vermont-based ice cream maker was able to maintain an independent board of directors to continue its progressive activism even after it sold to Unilever in 2000. The unique structure of the deal that allowed Ben & Jerry’s to wade into controversial issues without interference pulled Unilever into the fray, too. 

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In July 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would no longer sell its products to Israelis in the West Bank, which the company refers to as “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The move sparked outrage from both sides of the political aisle amid accusations that the company was boycotting Israel as part of the boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) movement, which Ben & Jerry’s denied. Israel threatened to take action against Unilever over the move, and U.S. lawmakers called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a probe into the parent company.

In March 2024, Unilever spun off its ice cream business, including Ben & Jerry’s, to become a leaner company. 

FOX Business reached out to Cracker Barrel, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Target and Ben & Jerry’s for comment.