In Small-Town Michigan, True American Values Are As Strong As Ever

The world feels fragile in many ways, but in this small lakeshore town, I am reminded that such work begins at the most local level.

Cracker Barrel desperately rewrites 'inclusion' and DEI web page after backlash



Cracker Barrel has changed its diversity page at least three times this month as it deals with backlash from the redesign.

Love for the franchise tanked when customers saw the company had changed its recognizable logo into a shadow of its former self, removing the "old-timer" known as Uncle Herschel sitting on a chair next to a barrel.

'Discrimination, overt or through unconscious bias, has no place at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.'

Also gone was the barrel itself, along with the text "Old Country Store," leaving just black "Cracker Barrel" text on a yellow background. The new menus, website, and interior design of Cracker Barrel locations also angered consumers, leaving the company to apologize for the errors.

The company does not appear to be returning to the old logo and design, however, and is seemingly digging itself a deeper hole by trying to mask its progressive leanings.

In an attempt to invoke old Uncle Herschel without actually showing him, Cracker Barrel has featured "the Herschel Way" on its web page dedicated to "culture and belonging."

"Our culture of belonging extends to our guests. The Herschel Way is our standard for hospitality," the company wrote. However, the new text represents at least the third change to the page this month as the company deals with the blowback over the past week.

Thanks to internet archives, readers can see what Cracker Barrel's progressive page looked like on August 4, which at that time was labeled "culture and inclusion."

The page included mentions of being "inclusive," while stating, "Discrimination, overt or through unconscious bias, has no place at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store."

Also featured was a photo labeled "Moving Forward Together," showcasing a diverse cast of people, including a man in a wheelchair.

By August 21, the company had updated the page to reflect its new font and style, but it seemingly remained identical otherwise. That was, until the fury of American consumers hit.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel ditches Americana as customers call for boycott over iconic brand change

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

August 21 was the same day many outlets — including Blaze News — began covering the backlash from Cracker Barrel customers, and by the next day on August 22, the desperate diversity image was removed.

Fast-forward another few days, and Cracker Barrel has remodeled the page to change its wording away from "inclusion" and toward "belonging."

This is not the first time the company has eliminated certain words to cover its messaging, though. Back in July 2024, the same page used the heading "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging" at Cracker Barrel. In fact, the previous link still redirects to the new text, further proving the adjustments were made to the same page.

The 2024 page showcased extreme dedication to diversity and race-based initiatives. It celebrated "Diversity in Our Decor," "Diversity in Our Leadership & Development," and even boasted about achievements on the Human Rights Campaign "equality index."

According to investigative reporter Robby Starbuck, the company "sponsored HRC events for 10 years" and even "brought an HRC representative to their Tennessee HQ to do a pronoun and transgenderism training."

Cracker Barrel told Fox News it "has not participated in the Human Rights Campaign Index or had any affiliation with HRC in several years."

RELATED: Cracker Barrel responds with sneaky message after backlash over rebrand

There are almost too many initiatives to name from the 2024 page, but the company bragged about "standing against racial injustice," having "zero tolerance" for gay discrimination, and offering a series of gay and race-driven events.

What has remained consistent throughout the years, though, has been Cracker Barrel's promotion of programs like "Be Bold," a mission to develop "black leaders," and the "LGBTQ+ Alliance," which has the purpose of "strengthening Cracker Barrel's relationship to the LGBTQ+ community."

In addition, HOLA's mission is to "promote Hispanic and Latino culture through hiring, developing, and retaining talent within Cracker Barrel."

The Cracker Barrel spokesperson insisted in comments to Fox News that the company's "values haven't changed, and the heart and soul of Cracker Barrel haven't changed."

"Cracker Barrel has been a destination for comfort and community for more than half a century, and this fifth evolution of the brand's logo, which works across digital platforms as well as billboards and roadside signs, is a callback to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969," Cracker Barrel said.

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Trump: If Cracker Barrel Wants To Survive, It Should Admit Rebrand Was A Total Loser

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Cracker Barrel responds with sneaky message after backlash over rebrand



Cracker Barrel wants Americans to move forward following intense blowback after the company rebranded its iconic logo and stores.

The beloved franchise was dragged through the mud when customers noticed a change to its recognizable logo, which removed the "old-timer" known as Uncle Herschel sitting on a chair next to a barrel. The brand took it a step further by also removing the barrel itself and erasing the text "Old Country Store."

'Nobody asked for a remodel for modern dining!'

This left the logo as just black "Cracker Barrel" text on a yellow background, zapping the fun and charm out of not only the company website, but more importantly, the interior of its locations.

After millions voiced their disdain with the rebrand, Cracker Barrel formally responded Monday morning, but it may not be what consumers were hoping for.

"If the last few days have shown us anything, it's how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel," the company posted on Facebook.

"You've also shown us that we could've done a better job sharing who we are and who we'll always be," the post continues.

With a "promise" to its guests, the company wrote that it will not be getting rid of its rocking chairs, hearth, peg games, or unique treasures. But the same cannot be said for unique design of the stores or the old logo.

RELATED: Cracker Barrel ditches Americana as customers call for boycott over iconic brand change

Cracker Barrel said it loved seeing how much people care about Uncle Herschel and that it will still include him on the menu, "road signs," and as a feature in the country stores.

"He's not going anywhere — he's family," the company claimed.

Reading between the lines, though, it seems Cracker Barrel is sticking with the new logo and interior design that have received so much criticism. The company message then jumped into menu items, listing off products like country fried steak and pancakes.

"While our logo and remodels may be making headlines, our bigger focus is still right where it belongs ... in the kitchen and on your plate," Cracker Barrel stated.

"We know we won't always get everything right the first time, but we'll keep testing, learning, and listening to our guests and employees," the company added, before invoking the "old-timer" one last time.

"Uncle Herschel wouldn't have it any other way."

RELATED: Cracker Barrel's long history of cozying up to left-leaning organizations exposed: Report

Readers were not fooled, and they let the company know in the comment section.

"If you are leaving him on the menus and road signs then leave him on the logo," Betty wrote.

"Nobody asked for a remodel for modern dining! A lot of folks go to Cracker Barrel for nostalgia!!!!" Facebook user Audra stated.

Real people even asked the brand, "Why take him off your logo?" while others stated they would not be returning to the restaurant.

"You change, I change! I'll change where I eat and shop, and it won't be Cracker Barrel," Randy added.

Only time will tell whether remaining committed to the rebrand will help or hurt the company, but at the same time, the publicity has brought focus to the brand's left-wing activism.

Cracker Barrel had previously boasted about its "culture and inclusion" initiatives that celebrate race- and gender-based programs. While its website has gone through a revamp and changed the terminology to "culture and belonging," it still promotes programs like "Be Bold," a mission to develop "black leaders," and the "LGBTQ+ Alliance."

The purpose of the latter is "strengthening Cracker Barrel's relationship to the LGBTQ+ community."

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Cracker Barrel Is Dead, And Its Stupid Woke CEO Killed It With Gay Nonsense

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Sydney Sweeney is rebuilding Americana — one Bronco at a time



Sydney Sweeney, the all-American icon we desperately need in our post-woke wasteland, is repairing classic Americana — one Ford at a time.

Her now-infamous American Eagle jeans ad may have hit the final nail in woke advertising’s coffin. Betting on the classic, winning formula — hot girl, blue jeans, cool car — American Eagle’s campaign with Sweeney paid off — big-time.

After years of gender-fluid, body-positive ads accompanied by ever-plummeting stock prices, American Eagle’s stock jumped 15% the day the campaign launched — bumping its market cap by $400 million.

The Zoomer bombshell is bringing back the wholesome Americana that we’ve lost to the Millennials’ woke crusade against family, beauty, hard work, and wholesome fun.

Sweeney can fix woke advertising. And apparently, she can fix cars, too.

Restoring the ‘all-American girl’

Amid the idle-making, mind-numbing sea of TikTok content, you may stumble across the surprisingly wholesome, grease-stained oasis of Syd’s Garage.

Separate from her main account, Syd’s Garage is a passion project. In partnership with Ford, Sweeney gets under the hood of Broncos and Mustangs, teaching viewers how to jump-start, fix tire pressure, and change air filters — all while wearing denim overalls, covered in sweat and engine grime, beaming with real joy.

I’ll admit, I had my doubts. Was this just another thirst trap for conservative dudes? Was Sweeney pulling a Cindy Crawford — cracking open a Pepsi in a low-cut top next to a cool car for clicks and kickbacks?

I’m happy to say she proved me wrong.

Syd’s Garage is wholesome, it’s all-American, and it actually shows Sweeney knows a thing or two about cars.

You won’t find low-cut tops or booty shorts here — to my relief. Instead, she’s decked out in Dickies jumpsuits, oversized T-shirts, and the occasional baseball cap as she documents the full restoration of her cherry-red 1969 Ford Bronco — lovingly named “Bronco.”

Her account also features her 1965 Mustang, “Brittney,” a sky-blue Fiat 500 beach cruiser called “Jolly,” and most recently, a tank-like Hummer H3 named “Arnold.”

Sweeney doesn’t outsource the work. She takes apart every piece, de-rusts every nook and cranny, changes the spark plugs, installs new transmissions, and, in her words, “cleans, cleans, cleans.”

It’s not flashy. It’s not overly produced. It’s just a girl who is genuinely passionate about cars — and it happens to be Sydney Sweeney. And as if the channel couldn’t get more lovable, Sweeney’s dad and dog are regularly featured.

Keep going, Sweeney

Say what you want about Sweeney, but the Zoomer bombshell is bringing back an iconic feminine American archetype that’s been lost to the Millennials’ woke crusade against family, beauty, hard work, and wholesome fun.

She’s “Rosie the Riveter” putting in some serious elbow grease. She’s the girl next door fixing cars the way her dad taught her. She loves her family, her dog, and off-roading in America’s deserts. And dare I say, the joy she has in overalls while working on her Bronco is even more stunning than her most glamorous red-carpet looks.

More often than not, the internet is a black hole of doom, gloom, clickbait, thirst traps, and trolls. Syd’s Garage is the exception. Maybe it will inspire a few girls to go offline, put on some gloves, and open a hood.

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A nearly perfect dinner in Door County, Wisconsin



“Perfection is not attainable,” football coach Vince Lombardi told his Green Bay Packers in 1959, “but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” Do excellent people, I wonder, know when they’ve come as close as humanly possible to perfection?

Take scholar C.S. Lewis, the moment he finished writing his Christian apologetic novel “The Screwtape Letters” or singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, the first time he performed his wistful ballad “Pancho and Lefty” from start to finish. Did each virtuoso instinctively know his art was knocking on heaven’s door?

I suspect it won’t be the last time something magical happens at Sister Bay Bowl, a place that, in pursuit of perfection, has caught excellence.

I cannot ask Messrs. Lewis or Van Zandt, who’ve gone on to their eternal reward. But later this summer — and aptly in Lombardi’s adoptive state — I can ask the proprietors of Sister Bay Bowl, a supper club in Door County, Wisconsin.

The throwback business, which, like much of northeastern Wisconsin, is as America was, has remained in the Willems family since 1950. It was opened as a hotel, and in 1958, Earl and Rita Willems replaced their dance hall with a six-lane bowling alley. They added a supper club in 1964.

The hotel no longer operates, and the dining-cum-bowling establishment today is known to many of its devotees simply as “the Bowl.” In a world demanding constant connectivity, the Bowl provides an evening of disconnection from time and place, if only for a few hours.

Over the summer years, my five children learned to bowl there. They did this while my wife, Devin, and I watched them while waiting for our table, a mutually beneficial diversion for kids and reprieve for parents. The bowling tab was always reasonable, and the wait for seating was never too long.

Nobody there, it seems, is ever in possession of a smartphone. To be lost in one at the Bowl would be to miss out on the low-tech vibe — a Milwaukee Brewers game on the bar’s television being the only reminder of modernity — of late-20th-century Americana that’s on offer.

The moon is jokingly said to be a terrible place for a restaurant: great food but no atmosphere. Until I’d been to the Bowl, I never appreciated how much atmosphere matters. This isn’t to deprecate the fare, which, like many diners themselves, had been swimming in Lake Michigan merely hours before.

It’s simply to note that everyone is happy. It’s a rare spot in the cosmos where time seems to stand still and all feel they are where they’re supposed to be. A night at the Bowl hints at the eternal, rich with a sense of what mystical English poet Francis Thompson called “majestic instancy.”

Here, I fell in love with broasted anything — a Wisconsin delicacy — and rediscovered how good peaches and cottage cheese can be. Here, I do not embarrass my kids by asking the waiter to name the heartiest item on the menu. True to its Midwestern roots, everything is hearty at the Bowl.

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Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Best of all, years ago, I took Mary Devine, Devin’s grandmother, to dinner there the night I sensed our large family’s dining plan wasn’t taking shape quickly enough. “Nana,” I asked, “would you like to join me at the Bowl?” I can still hear her courtly reply: “Why, Mike, I’d love that.”

As the sun set on Sister Bay, I was treated to hours of conversation with an elegant Southern woman, usually laconic, yet that night, anything but. She never went to college but had more common sense than any person I know. It was an unforgettable night.

Nana died shortly after that dinner. Our evening together turned out to be a wonderful parting gift. I suspect it won’t be the last time something magical happens at Sister Bay Bowl, a place that, in pursuit of perfection, has caught excellence.

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