Cracker Barrel’s decision to rebrand its historic logo has drawn ire from other companies, including Steak ‘n Shake.
The southern-themed comfort food restaurant chain, based in Lebanon, Tennessee, first opened its doors in 1969 with simple gold branding and its name spelled out in brown lettering, intending to evoke the atmosphere of a friendly wood-frame general store selling dry goods to the pioneers. Then, in 1977, it added the seated figure of a man wearing overalls leaning against a wooden cask alongside the name, in the process creating an icon of folksy Americana that has endured ever since.
