Country cookin’ giant Cracker Barrel was thought to be a bastion of conservative America, particularly given not just the aesthetics it used to cultivate carefully but the Biblical, Christianity-themed goods sold in the shop area of its stores.
Well, it tossed that conservative, Christian reputation out the window with a June of 2023 Facebook and Instagram post in which it celebrated “Pride” month with a picture of a rainbow-painted rocking chair and the caption, “We are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our rocker). Happy Pride!” Here’s a picture of the Facebook post:
Predictably, as happened with Bud Light, former customers of Cracker Barrel were outraged by the post. Commenting on the above Twitter post, people said things like “Cracker Barrel just made my boycott list!
” and “Another one bites the dust …” Others urged restraint, with one commenter saying, “Pick your battles, folks. Just because they have that non-rainbow doesn’t mean they’re marketing to kids.”
Similarly, commenting on Cracker Barrel’s Instagram post, people said things like “Not necessary. No longer a family restaurant. Lost my business.” and “Thank you for making it so easy to shop somewhere else. So tired of the agendas. Is there a normal marriage chair.. lol. Not sure why a restaurant needs to celebrate someone’s dating/love life ect to have an agenda to push. No thanks. Can we not just eat food?”
Auron MacIntyre, YouTube sensation turned Blaze personality, found and ridiculed the Cracker Barrel post as well, saying “New Bud Light just dropped” in a Twitter post with a picture of the post. Here that is:
The main reason for the outrage seen in those comments and many more was that Cracker Barrel, like Chick-fil-A, had been thought by many to be a conservative, Christian company that didn’t bend to the current leftist pieties. They thought they could support those restaurants without having to listen to woke preaching about race or sexuality from people with whom they strongly disagree. Finding that to be suddenly incorrect, they were quite upset.
For example, the Texas Family Project said, “We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen. A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob.” In the post, screenshots of Cracker Barrel releases about pride and DEI were included. Check those out here:
As you can read above, the one on DEI says, in part, “Our food and décor celebrate warm memories of the past, and our inclusive culture and beliefs help us make way for an even brighter future, together. Discrimination, overt or through unconscious bias, has no place at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
.”
Similarly, the one about “Pride” at Cracker Barrel says, “This year Cracker Barrel’s focus was to be a part of the Pride experience. We had two locations in the park, both equipped with seating areas and coverage for people to sit down and cool off, while allowing for natural conversation. In the Cracker Barrel spirit of hospitality and belonging, we call it “bringing the front porch to Pride.”
