OutKick’s campaign to save Cracker Barrel appears to be a huge success with the stock’s recent news
Less than a year ago, Cracker Barrel had a moment of Bud light when management decided to change the iconic company logo and try to turn the home-themed restaurant into a place where city moms could chat on TikTok before moving on to the next hot trend.
CEO Julie Felss Masino appeared on “Good Morning America” in August wearing her LIB glasses. “The response has been great,” Masino assured Michael Strahan on August 19, 2025. As soon as those words came out of bespectacled CEO Rachel Maddow’s mouth, she was cooked.
What kind of product should we save next? Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com
A Cracker Barrel Old Country Store customer walks on the patio toward the restaurant in Dumfries, Va., on May 21, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg)
Last week, after surviving nine months of deception as the leader of Cracker Barrel, Masino was able to share some good news with investors –– customers who are coming back for the food they love, the cake deals and the comfort of Uncle Herschel leaning against the barrel. Shares of the company rose nearly 37% last week on the news.
For Masino, it was a matter of course after being very confident that customers would be cool with the whitewashed walls and the changes that were First Watch and the small breakfast of the high street that travelers have known for 40 years.
CRACKER BARREL FACES CRITICISM FROM CUSTOMERS AFTER DROPPING ICONIC 48-YEAR-OLD LOGO WITH A NEW REPLACEMENT
A Cracker Barrel billboard promoting new beer and chicken offerings is displayed on a freeway in Urbana, Ill., on Nov. 2, 2022. (Unknown)
“Angry customers say Cracker Barrel has been ‘whitewashed’ with cool new look,” OutKick warned on June 21, 2025. Little did we know at the time that Masino’s marketing department was preparing for a major press conference in New York City in mid-August. Despite the setback, the leadership continued.
Then came that terrible moment with Strahan.
On August 21, OutKick once again warned Julie that she was making a fatal mistake. It was too late. Cracker Barrel had a full week of content planned including an August 22 pop-up event in New York City’s Meatpacking District complete with badass dancing, TikTok influencers eating new menu items at a fancy table in the middle of the street and even bringing in a country singer to entertain the locals.
CRACKER BARREL THROWS A PATHETIC GROUP OF TIKTOK INFLUENCERS IN NYC – WATCH!
It was a marketing disaster that was often mocked online with OutKick leading the way. As of Aug. 21 to Dec. 31, Cracker Barrel’s stock fell 53%.
“Lipstick in the way of the pig put Julie in this mess. Now let’s see if she can put on her dark glasses and save this pig before its pending death becomes a reality,” I wrote on September 9, that day, in a social media message, Cracker Barrel admitted that it made a big marketing mistake and will stop the changes that Julie boasted about on GMA.
In November, Julie’s team decided to get Glenn Beck to interview Julie about eating at Cracker Barrel as a marketing reset. Wearing new glasses, with tears streaming down his cheeks, Masino convinced the Christian customer that he had made a big mistake with the company. It was sad.
The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store logo is displayed on a large rooftop sign in Mount Arlington, NJ, on Aug. 22, 2025. (Gregory Walton/AFP)
But, Julie survived. Again. It was a miracle. It is not clear whether Julie really likes the brand. Sure, she likes the money, but from the beginning it was felt that Julie wanted to run First Watch, not a place where a Kentucky auto mechanic named Rodney takes his old lady and their four children for a special meal once a month.
“I want people to love this place,” Masino said while talking to Beck as his voice cracked.
While the company isn’t out of the woods yet, it turns out that talking less to major media companies, holding smaller fake marketing events and getting back to serving the customers who pay your bills is best business practice. Think about that.
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When Julie and her Maddow glasses disappeared, she put her head down, stopped worrying about the brand, and made sure her restaurants served the customer, Cracker Barrel was full again.
Welcome, America. You are right OutKick will take the victory lap this time.
