Apologies for my ridiculous revision of William Shakespeare’s immortal saying: “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell the same.”
A rose definitely smells the same no matter what you call it, but when your company depends upon a logo to keep the faithful coming through the doors and then changes that logo to become more “inclusive,” the results will smell, but in a bad way.
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The restaurant chain Cracker Barrel learned that this week when it updated its logo and removed Uncle Herschel, a beloved figure, indicating the restaurant is full of old-time charm.
Two years on the job, Julie Felss Masino faced an uproar this week with the debut of the new sans-Herschel logo. (Herschel actually was founder Dan Evins’ uncle.)
The revised logo was part of Masino’s vision to become more inclusive, which included a newly envisioned interior for the restaurants, which many described as being hospital-like.
After initially trying to justify the logo change, Masino late today brought back Uncle Herschel and the original logo.
The need to do so was so obvious and great that even President Trump weighed in on Truth Social, to wit:
Note that Trump had to get in a plug for hinmself, but at least Trump knows to keep his image intact.
Cracker Barrel had to learn that the hard way.
PICTURED: The original logo with Uncle Herschel. Below, the revised logo:
