In a bizarre spectacle on MSNBC, host Jonathan Capehart mostly lost his cool and went ballistic when describing the conservative backlash that Cracker Barrel has faced since it revealed its redesigned logo, a move that many online saw as either woke nonsense, corporate hatred of old traditions, or some combination thereof that needs to be punished.
As background, Cracker Barrel’s new logo is a side profile of a yellow barrel that says “Cracker Barrel” in plain text on it, removing all the detail, the characteristic font, and the old man that were on the old logo. Further, the chain has redesigned its interiors, going for a much cleaner and more sterile look and getting rid of the jumble of old tools and vintage advertisements that were on the walls.
Conservatives hated that logo change and interior redesign, and went ballistic, shaming the brand for erasing its heritage and the sort of culture it seemed to stand for. With investors spooked that the brand had inflicted a Bud Light-tier disaster on itself, the stock sold off and the chain lost over $100 million in market cap as days of selling pressure sent the stock tumbling by double digits.
Instead of simply noting that people get mad when their favorite things are tampered with by outsiders who don’t like or understand the meaning behind how things used to be, the obvious reason for the public anger and freakout, MSNBC’s Capehart went on a ballistic, almost explitive-filled rant about the matter.
Such came during the broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Weekend” with Capehart and co-host Eugene Daniels. Snapping about what he thinks is going on and barely stopping himself from cursing as he did so, Capehart snapped, “There are real things people are concerned about, and they’re losing their minds over a redesign. What the — See? I’m trying not to curse.”
Capehart further said that the newly redesigned logo is “fine” and so people shouldn’t be mad about it, snapping, “The logo is fine. Companies go through rebrands all the time. You know what I’m sick of?” Chiming in, his co-host asked if what is getting him so fed up and angry is “Manufactured BS?”
Taking that and running with it, Capehart slammed people upset about the destruction of their favorite brands and goods as “snowflakes” who should have been fine with Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney stunt. He snapped, “Yeah, manufactured BS, but I’m so sick of the outrage of these snowflakes. There are so many things that offend them, that get them all upset, they’re shooting beer cans and burning hats and stuff like that.”
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Daniels then claimed that the outrage is only happening because southerners want to present themselves as victims, saying, “I think the manufactured outrage is also about them pretending to feel attacked. Because when you think about Cracker Barrel, as someone who’s been a lot as a kid in the South, you think about folks in the south. You think about folks who are probably MAGA voters, right? Those two circles are probably very close together.”
Watch Capehart here: