Growing up in the South, Cracker Barrel felt a bit like a theme park attraction. Its down-home frills, Old Country Store merch, and cartoonishly indulgent comfort food embody a storybook spectacle of Southern life that doesn't really exist anymore in popular culture.

Cracker Barrel’s recent logo redesign has sparked a heated debate, with many critics quick to call it just another example of “woke” branding. The company removed its iconic barrel and chair-sitting man from the logo,