The Cracker Barrel rebrand has flooded my feeds for the better part of the last week with some hilarious memes mixed in with a lot of red-hot takes.

Here are my thoughts about this controversial rebrand:

• People are rightfully upset, but it’s way too late: The Cracker Barrel people are mourning right now died years ago, when Cracker Barrel changed how they prepare food. Most items sold in Cracker Barrel restaurants are no longer made on-site, but are heated in a microwave after arriving frozen.
• The Cracker Barrel food of today is the same as the new branding: nothing remarkable, modern-generic, and commoditized.
• I would love to see the first round of ideas from the agency’s design team, before the committee of know-betters altered it into what was launched. In branding, we have a cautionary adage: “A camel is a horse designed by a committee.” This logo is giving camel vibes.
• In this context, however, the new logo now matches the Cracker Barrel that exists today.
• It passes the “glance test,” meaning that despite the current public outcry, everyone will still know it is the Cracker Barrel logo at a glance. Part of it is due to the new logo keeping a lot of the core visual equity intact, but also (ironically) due to how much this new logo is shared out of anger. Brand repetition is brand repetition.
• Example: The new Cracker Barrel logo looks great on the new grocery items they are rolling out as part of the rebrand.
• The public is mourning yet another loss of a connection to our collective former life, and a lot of it is connected to the loss of memories at Cracker Barrels that simply haven’t existed for years. I respect the mourning, but what’s gone is gone.

All of this reminds me of another brand: Boston Market.

I was a college freshman in 1994 in the Chicagoland area, where the nearest Boston Market had a line of vehicles out to the road every day. It was extremely popular.

Then McDonald’s bought Boston Market, and the public let out a collective sigh.

Fast forward a few years, and a rebrand, plus supply chain efficiencies, made Boston Market into a shell of its former glory.

They launched a line of grocery items, just like what Cracker Barrel is doing now.

The result?

You probably hadn’t thought of Boston Market in years until I just mentioned it. It was a brand loved by the public, and ruined by greed.

That could be what’s happening with Cracker Barrel, but I’m not aware of the motives behind the changes beyond what we can see.

I believe that this rebrand by Cracker Barrel is a mirror of the brand that exists today, and not a hostile takeover.