Cracker Barrel Logo Change & Viral Mess Sends Company's Stock Plunging
A logo change went viral, sparking backlash and sending Cracker Barrel’s stock tumbling.
Investors are having a hard time digesting the changes Cracker Barrel has cooked up.
Just days after CEO Julie Masino went on "Good Morning America" and told the world that reaction to her company's logo, menu and store changes have been "overwhelmingly positive," Cracker Barrel's stock plummeted nearly 15% during trading.
EMAIL: JOE.KINSEY@OUTKICK.COM
"People like what we're doing," Masino told Michael Strahan with a straight face this week on the ABC morning show. "Cracker Barrel needs to feel like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow -- the things that you love are still there. We need people to choose us, and we want people to choose us."
If we're to believe the stock price reaction, it feels like investors believe Cracker Barrel is about to get Bud Light'd.
As of Thursday morning, Cracker Barrel's logo change was the No. 1 Google Trend in the United States. It doesn't take a crisis management degree to know this is an all-hands-on-deck code red for Cracker Barrel management.
They officially have a big problem on their hands.
On Thursday, as it was being destroyed on social media, the company dispatched chief marketing officer Sarah Moore to do an interview with Fox Business.
The goal: Change the conversation. Regain the narrative.
"It's all about evolution with intentionality," Moore said of the store changes that are coming. "We've been very transparent about making our stores feel brighter, and even more welcoming than they already are, while maintaining that country hospitality and charm that we're known for."
Even more welcoming? What's that all about, Sarah?
She says the goal is the freshen up the business "to open up the door wider for more guests."
Translation: Millennials and Gen Z.
Translation #2: This is the company's pivot away from maw and paw suckin' down a plate of biscuits and gravy after going on a Sunday mornin' drive.
How are stock traders feeling about the changes, the drama, the opening of the door wider for more guests?
On the Stocktwits social media app, this is the No. 1 most popular post today on the Cracker Barrel message board.
"Liberals never learn," the poster captioned a meme of Sydney Sweeney as the vintage Cracker Barrel logo before Masino and her team took a fork and knife to the old man in a rocking chair logo.
Bonus: Cracker Barrel is in "Extremely Bearish" territory on the app's "Sentiment" meter.
It's a bloodbath out there as Masino and Moore have a Bud Light situation on their hands.
Good luck, ladies.