Welp, you hate to see it, but I suppose it is inevitable. Any time a rock-ribbed, “Christian” conservative corporation expands its offerings to markets in purple and blue cities and states, the progressive mafias that run those areas will ultimately get them to kowtow to their cultural priorities, rather than the other way around.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Pride Month Facebook Post (Credit
From Not the Bee:
Yeah, someone at Cracker Barrel corporate doesn’t understand their audience.
It’s less about the corporate pride and more about the fact that this is clearly a betrayal of Cracker Barrel’s core customer base who don’t support the LGBT rainbow brigade.
It’s like they’re purposefully spitting in their customers’ faces.
Perhaps. From the Facebook post on the Cracker Barrel page, there is a mix of reviews from, “I’ll never eat at Cracker Barrel again,” to “I avoided Cracker Barrel, but now that you include everybody, I’ll eat there.” If the comments are any indication, not everyone is as offended as what is being reported. I have recently traveled to the South and ate at a few Cracker Barrels along the way. All I saw were American flag bunting and the run-of-the-mill rocking chairs. So, wherever this display is, it wasn’t in any of the states where I stopped. While they are okay with touting this on social media, the run-of-the-mill Cracker Barrel customer probably hasn’t bothered to look at the post, and the locations apparently have the option of choosing “Yah” or “Nah” in their displays.
Maybe they have the Pride rockers and bunting displayed in locations like Gilbert, Arizona, or even Portland, Oregon.
Oh, wait…
And just so you know, Cracker Barrel’s diversity push is not new, and doesn’t end with the external decor:
Cracker Barrel is not hiding its goals to become more inclusive. They even have a “diversity and inclusion” tab on their website:
We have a responsibility to live up to our mission of Pleasing People each day, ensuring that every member of our team and every guest feels at home, feels cared for like family, and feels like they belong. Also guiding our way is the sense of belonging we strive to deliver as part of our People Promise.
Our teams work hard to create a culture of hospitality that’s welcoming, respectful and inclusive to everyone who walks through our doors. Our food and d?cor 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.
And those rainbow rockers? Why, they developed them as far back as 2018. It’s fascinating that many of the initiatives concerning the LGBTQ+ community have sprung from Nashville, Tennessee.
Curious, but… not.
The tab also includes information about changes in the internal decor to remove racially or culturally insensitive items, partnering with HBCUs and more diverse businesses, hiring of a more diverse workforce, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. What’s that expression? In for a penny, in for a pound. As we are discovering, many of these corporations, even the so-called Christian ones, started down this DEI road years ago, not thinking it would do any harm to be more sensitive and “inclusive.” Not only would it get certain state regulators off their backs, but it would bring in a different customer base that could potentially increase their profit margin. As we continue to watch the implosion of Anheuser-Busch and Target, the evidence reflects that totally tossing your core base under the bus for the vagaries of a social agenda is not only a failure of Marketing 101, but a failure to be loyal to the people who made you who you were.
As they say in the South, “Dance with the one who brung yah!” Now the Cracker Barrel corporation has chosen to two-step with others, they may be next to experience this for themselves.
Cue the suicide watch in 3… 2…1.