Cracker Barrel loses almost $100 million.

[ViaCrucis]

No it's not. Woke is about being aware of social injustice and discrimination. Right wingers decided to battle this by lying about and expanding the definition to apply to whatever they didn't like.

That's what it appears to be to me.

Anything can be woke, everything is woke, and nothing is woke.

Woke is anything, everything, and nothing all at once. So I guess celery really is woke.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

Yeah, like people still don't eat Kentucky Fried Chicken because it became KFC? Look, even if some folks stop going because of some vacuous "principle," it makes no difference. It's just one more sign that Americans have a tendency to major in the minors. Don't worry, though, it's just an existential affectation that helps us avoid real issues and still look virtuous. And happily, some people think KFC is as finger licking good as it ever was. Cracker Barrel will be fine, and some investors will have gained while others lost because they feared conservative backlash. The world moves on.

I cannot put into words just how little I care about a meaningless logo change by a company I never think about, that runs a restaurant that I've never been to.

My dog farted. Perhaps that's woke too. Everyone get angry.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Nithavela]

I cannot put into words just how little I care about a meaningless logo change by a company I never think about, that runs a restaurant that I've never been to.

My dog farted. Perhaps that's woke too. Everyone get angry.

-CryptoLutheran

You're just failing to signal that you are part of the anti-woke in-group. Which makes you woke.

 

[ozso]

I'm legitimately confused how the logo change is "woke".

So it genuinely comes across to me as "woke" is literally nothing more than a meaningless pejorative.

And your statement here would seem to indicate that I'm on the nose here.

In which case, I guess dying Easter Eggs is also woke? Changing clothes is woke? Eating a hamburger is woke?

What's an example of something that isn't woke?

-CryptoLutheran

Woke would be replacing eggs with rocks. Woke would be changing clothing fashion to be gender neutral. Woke would be replacing a hamburger patty with a plant based substitute.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Woke would be replacing eggs with rocks. Woke would be changing clothing fashion to be gender neutral. Woke would be replacing a hamburger patty with a plant based substitute.

Got it. So no plastic Easter Egg decorations, women can't wear pants, and no tofu.

I'm still just as befuddled as I was before if I'm honest.

But it is slowly getting dumber the more it's explained.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ozso]

No it's not. Woke is about being aware of social injustice and discrimination. Right wingers decided to battle this by lying about and expanding the definition to apply to whatever they didn't like.

That's what woke used to mean. Just like gay used to only mean happy or festive. The meaning of words change. Woke became a problem when it started being too widely applied. When they kept coming up with new things to call racist, prejudiced, exclusionary etc.

 

[ozso]

Got it. So no plastic Easter Egg decorations, women can't wear pants, and no tofu.

I'm still just as befuddled as I was before if I'm honest.

But it is slowly getting dumber the more it's explained.

-CryptoLutheran

Well then you'll just have to look it up and keep studying until the penny drops. Like with doctrine and theology, it helps to understand different views. Even if you don't hold to them, don't agree with them, or think they're nonsense.

 

[MrMoe]

I agree that the word woke is overused on the right, but nowhere near as overused as the word racist is on the left.

And this is far more normal than the recent controversy over a jeans ad that was accused of being racist, and promoting white supremacy and eugenics by those on the left.

 

[ozso]

Got it. So no plastic Easter Egg decorations, women can't wear pants, and no tofu.

I'm still just as befuddled as I was before if I'm honest.

But it is slowly getting dumber the more it's explained.

-CryptoLutheran

It usually has correcting some perceived wrong involved. Eggs being replaced by rocks because using eggs exploits chickens or something along those lines. Gender neutral clothing being universal. Like this is how everyone needs to dress. All clothing must not denote gender in any way. Because anything gender specific excludes or marginalizes or whatever some social group. Burger King going totally meatless because meat exploits animals, contributes to climate change, distresses vegans etc.

Woke is mostly a short word for radical progressive liberalism.

 

[Pommer]

What's God's opinion on being in a christian forum?
What does God say about being in a christian forum if you're an atheist?

I mean, we could come up with a long list of these type of questions if ya think about it.

Yeah, but we’re all friends here, you see.

 

[Pommer]

People.... Cracker Barrel is all about the sides.

Well, the ol’ “there’s no such thing as bad publicity!”, yeah. Part of the desire to change the logo is to generate arguments over the changes, then the company will weather the “storm” of people thinking about their company more than if the company had left the logo the same…all the way to the bank.
The -$100m in value is a nice way to make a buck if people were “smart enough” (or “inside-enough”?), to short the stock.
Yup, if we still had journalists in this country we might find out if anyone close to Cracker Barrel’s management shorted any stock.
Give it two months.

 

[Pommer]

Wokeness is all about unwanted change.

Yes but “whatever got us here is just fine, don’t change anything” isn’t really reasonable, either.
Arguing about where the change-line is, is what politics is all about.
And it’s always been this way, we’ve fought for forever and will continue to do so.
Why’s this “bad”?

 

[ozso]

Yes but “whatever got us here is just fine, don’t change anything” isn’t really reasonable, either.
Arguing about where the change-line is, is what politics is all about.
And it’s always been this way, we’ve fought for forever and will continue to do so.
Why’s this “bad”?

A better explanation I offered is, it usually has correcting some perceived wrong involved. Like insisting people stop wearing plaid because it's cultural appropriation of the Scottish. Or all restaurants must include chopsticks with eating utensils because a lack of chopsticks is exclusionary to Chinese people, and therefore racist. Historically knives, forks and spoons were mainly used in Europe, therefore they denote white supremacy.

As silly as those examples sound, I wouldn't be particularly surprised to find out they really are a thing.

 

[Tuur]

Well, feel free to keep track of these important changes with Cracker Barrel, and get back to us with the results of your study.

Shrug. Cracker Barrel is a publicly traded company. If you are confident in your analysis, you can put you life savings in the stock.

 

[Tuur]

I would not know....guess you'll have to ask the WSJ photographer.

The point being that if I wanted to eat at a place where the interior resembled Zaxby's, I'd go to Zaxby's rather than a knock-off.

 

[Tuur]

They need to lower the noise, reduce prices, take a serious look at their menu. Hard to lower prices when they already feel they are not making enough profit but bringing in more customers would soon resolve that. They need to dig a bit deeper and get more creative other than changing a logo and redoing the decor. Find a way to keep their loyal customers happy while drawing in new customers. Although a poor representation of an old country store, they could easily revamp the place while keeping the nostalgia for the regulars. A lot of restaurants are losing profit given the high prices of things needed to run a restaurant. They are not the only ones. They are a chain. Imagine the local restaurants now. They are really struggling and I doubt it has much to do with the logo or decor no matter how good or bad it is. People are just not eating out as much. It’s not as affordable anymore.

Price changed are due to inflation and affect other restaurants, from single owner to corporate megachains. For a sit-in restaurant, volume is likely seating room and how fast customers move in and out, which pretty much leaves building more restaurants. Cracker Barrel used to be packed at meal-times, so that implies as much volume as it could handle. Since Cracker Barrel is supposedly blaming their decline on the pandemic restrictions and failure to attract younger customers, that implies they're not filling their existing restaurants. So if they were having to raise prices before people started going elsewhere, cutting them isn't going to help a great deal and raises the question of where they'd make up the difference due to inflation.

Décor is a draw, and always has been for Cracker Barrel. The expensive store items reminds me of the stuff that Stuckey's use to carry back when it was as ubiquitous as Cracker Barrel. The last Stuckey's I saw was a lonesome store between Chattanooga and Manchester, and we stopped there on a business trip just to get a receipt to prove that yes, one still existed. That was over ten years ago, and even that store might be gone.

Stuckey's used to be everywhere. Haven't seen a Steak & Ale in years. Chains go out of business. No one has to eat at Cracker Barrel, not even the ones who've gone there for years.

 

[Tuur]

My 2 cents. I don't think it had anything do with "woke". It had more to do with desperation to shore up a flagging brand.

Exactly. The "woke" stuff happened before and even that was more like virtue signaling. But now "woke" hangs about their neck like the Ancient Mariner's albatross, and any radical change is going to be called "woke" whether it is or not.

 

[Tuur]

I cannot put into words just how little I care about a meaningless logo change by a company I never think about, that runs a restaurant that I've never been to.

So, arguably we could say they haven't lost your business (because they never had it to begin with).

My objection to the new logo is that it's so poor that it looks like it was done in-house with someone using Microsoft Paint.

 

[Nithavela]

Exactly. The "woke" stuff happened before and even that was more like virtue signaling. But now "woke" hangs about their neck like the Ancient Mariner's albatross, and any radical change is going to be called "woke" whether it is or not.

Remember how McDonalds redesigned their restaurants?

You just know that would this happen today, people would call it woke.

 

[Tuur]

Yes but “whatever got us here is just fine, don’t change anything” isn’t really reasonable, either.
Arguing about where the change-line is, is what politics is all about.
And it’s always been this way, we’ve fought for forever and will continue to do so.
Why’s this “bad”?

Not all change is good. Just ask Pizza Hut.

Something important to note: When McDonalds tried to go coffee-shop some years back, they ditched the playgrounds and put up those kiosks. Heard more complaints about the kiosks than removing the playground. But for anyone not a kid, that playground wasn't much of a draw. The draw was fast food consistent from restaurant to restaurant. That's why menu changes at McDonalds causes more of a stir.

Cracker Barrel isn't known for fast food. You go in, wait for your meal to be cooked, dine, maybe look around the store section, and head on your way. Décor becomes as much a draw as the food. Messing with the décor is messing with one of the things that brings people in. Messing with the logo...well, the lesson here is if you're going to mess with a logo, don't replace it with something cheesy.