A video depicting Cracker Barrel’s Uncle Herschel — who was kicked off the company’s new logo in a corporate rebrand, sparking customer outrage – has gone viral, with its animated mascot singing “Go woke, go broke” and racking up over half a million views on X.
“Why, oh why, do brands insist on committing to suicide? Cracker Barrel, you coulda left me on the logo and just let it ride,” an Uncle Herschel lookalike sang in the video.
“Hey Wall Street! God, politics and sex ain’t your business, so do me a favor and stay the heck out of mine.”
Uncle Herschel’s diss track comes after Cracker Barrel, known for its Southern fixins, scrapped its old-timey decor for modern white paint and scrubbed the beloved farmer from its logo.
The company’s valuation shed $100 million last week as outraged customers blasted the soulless rebrand – and President Trump chimed in on Tuesday with a demand to “go back to the old logo” and “admit a mistake.”
In the video, which has gained over 600,000 views on X, Uncle Herschel takes aim at several other firms that saw their stocks plummet over “woke” policies and campaigns.
“Calvin Klein said being morbidly obese was cool,” the farmer sang.
“Greedy banks lecturing me about DEI. Are they for real? Some whackjobs named Ben and Jerry want me to boycott Israel.”
“It’s enough to make you reach for a beer, but Bud’s woke too. Next they’ll call it the Queen of Beers, guess this Bud ain’t for you.”
The song took aim at Nike’s ad with Colin Kaepernick, a football player who kneeled during the national anthem; Bud Light’s campaign with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney; Ben & Jerry’s anti-Israel politics; and Target’s Pride clothing collection for kids.
It ended with a nod to American Eagle’s racy denim campaign with Sydney Sweeney – which used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress.
Many critics on social media argued the advertisement promoted eugenics.
“Stick to selling your screens, beans and widget machines, oh and did I mention Sydney Sweeny has great jeans.”
The video was originally posted by Brett Craig, an advertising executive at XX-XY Athletics, an apparel brand with the goal of banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports.
Craig and Cracker Barrel did not immediately respond to noti.group’s requests for comment.
Cracker Barrel on Monday issued a wimpy apology, admitting that “we won’t always get everything right the first time, but we’ll keep testing, learning and listening to our guests and employees.”
The Tennessee-based company promised that its restaurants would keep the rocking chairs on its porches, fireplaces, peg games at tables, knickknacks in gift shops and kitschy antiques.
The week before, the company announced that a breakfast platter called Uncle Herschel’s Favorite would return to menus after a two-year hiatus.
But customers were quick to bash the apology as inauthentic – with one griping that Cracker Barrel “kicked Uncle Herschel to the curb” and is “paying the price.”
“Own it and stop making excuses,” they added in a comment on Instagram.
Another user chimed in: “The biggest insult to your customers is acting like you hear them but doing the complete opposite.”
A third jabbed: “I seriously don’t know what the purpose of this post was because you make it very clear that you have heard each of us, and you don’t care. Great choice in leadership right there.”
Yet another suggested: “Maybe someone can open a new chain, call it Uncle Hershell’s (sic), and decorate it the way Cracker Barrel was, with a gift shop, and everybody will flock there and Cracker Barell (sic) will go under!”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
