The demise of Cracker Barrel’s old logo means the birth of a new restaurant chain timed to take advantage of the backlash.
Conservative-populist backlash against the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain’s new logo has prompted the owners of a large mortuary and crematorium group to enter the restaurant industry with a rustic-themed chain of their own.
Ketcham and Burnham Funeral Homes, LLC, established in 1979 by Georgia entrepreneurs Daley Ketcham and Dewey Burnham and now comprising 377 locations in 17 states, has announced a restaurant spinoff called J.D. Crudegoober’s, described in a press release as a chain of dining establishments to be located in mortuaries, with eventual construction of locations near interstate exits.
Ketcham and Burham say their intent is to capture the business that they expect Cracker Barrel to lose after changing its logo to words only, removing the image of the eponymous barrel and the man in overalls leaning on it.
“The timing is perfect for our target demographic and an efficient integration of our various interests,” a company spokesperson said. “Cracker Barrel’s unforced error is our opportunity as more comfort-food lovers weigh their funeral options while also weighing more themselves.”
Conservatives have likened the new Cracker Barrel logo design to Bud Light’s ill-fated use of the image of a transgender person on certain packaging in 2023, which prompted a lengthy and damaging boycott.
“It’s the same insidious mentality at work,” said the Rev. Ovoid Carbuncle, pastor of the Friends of Israel Megachurch in Asperity Falls, Georgia. “Making anything less country makes it more faggy. Cracker Barrel might just as well have a new sign that says ‘Eat here and get monkeypox.’”
Ketcham and Burnham said their new chain will be identified by a logo that depicts a giant peanut wearing a cowboy hat and slouching. Locations attached to mortuaries will offer outdoor dining for a down-home dinner-on-the-ground ambience, the press release said.
“Our J.D. Crudegoober’s menu will be carefully curated to appeal to the people we know and love best,” the press release said. “This will not be a granola-and-rabbit-food sort of place that thinks serving small portions on square plates will cut the mustard, when in fact it only cuts the cheese.”
Sausage, bacon, ground beef, steaks, and chops will all be prominent in the new chain’s marketing, the press release said:
“We want Ketcham and Burnham properties to call up the immediate association of meat cooking.”
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