Cracker Barrel just keeps caving to MAGA’s bigotry

In another step to appease MAGA, restaurant chain Cracker Barrel has ditched its webpage boasting its support for the LGBTQ+ community.

“In connection with the Company’s brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing of out-of-date content,” the company said in a statement to Fox News Thursday. 

In other words, reporters caught wind that the southern food chain had quietly removed mention of their support for LGBTQ+ causes following major backlash from conservatives and President Donald Trump. 

Now, instead of a webpage touting that it was “bringing the porch to Pride,” it redirects to a “Culture and Belonging” page, according to Fox Business.

And while the new page vaguely hints at an overall support of belonging for everyone, the page withholds any mention of the LGBTQ+ community.

For those needing a refresher, Cracker Barrel announced on Aug. 19 that it was modernizing its logo and removing the “Old Timer”—an old man leaning against a barrel—from the branding as a way to appeal to younger people. 

FILE - The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store logo in Pearl, Miss., is photographed, Sept. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
The old, new Cracker Barrel logo, shown in 2023.

And while businesses regularly redesign their logos, MAGA bizarrely turned this issue into a conspiracy of sorts. 

Right-wingers labeled the chain’s rebrand as “woke” and started coming after Cracker Barrel’s past affiliation with Pride parades and anything to do with their archnemesis: diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Over the past week or so, MAGA influencers Charlie Kirk and Robby Starbuck riled their followers up about the chain restaurant logo, but it wasn’t until Trump nosed into the matter that the company quickly made changes. 

“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 wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday.

Hours later, the food joint announced it would revert to its previous logo. According to a Trump administration staffer, a representative from Cracker Barrel called Trump to thank him for weighing in on the issue as well. 

Ultimately, it all smells of doing what’s best for the company’s bottom line. But MAGA isn’t alone in pushing around companies. Retail giant Target saw its profits suffer after it abandoned DEI and Pride support. Business and branding decisions are increasingly political these days even if the company doesn’t outwardly intend for it to be that way. 

Then again, when a handful of companies throw away their DEI programs the moment the country elects a president who opposes them, it’s safe to wonder if their good morals were always just about lining pockets to begin with.

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