Now that the dust has settled, the branding agency fired and the old brand restored, it’s a very good time to have a look at what really happened with the rebranding of Cracker Barrel — something the mainstream media largely ignored.
Let’s start with the firing of the agency behind the rebrand. Prophet — founded by Scott Galloway and Ian Chaplen with David Aaker as vice chairman — is a powerhouse branding firm known for rigorous research and disciplined strategy. This isn’t a gaggle of amateurs crowdsourcing a logo.
Prophet does its homework, has A-list clients and has successfully delivered a whole bunch of rebranding and branding projects. What went unsuitable?
How bot activity fueled the rebrand backlash
The most interesting a part of this story never made headlines — likely overshadowed by the president’s comments that turned the rebrand right into a politicized moment.
What was largely missing from the uproar was the real source of the rapid outrage: bots. According to the Wall Street Journal, bots posing as real users drove a disproportionate share of the social chatter that media outlets picked up. PeakMetrics — which works with the U.S. Air Force to discover foreign misinformation — found that the backlash originated from high-follower human accounts but was quickly amplified by bots.
By August 20, the day after the launch, X saw about 400 Cracker Barrel posts every minute. Molly Dwyer, director of insights at PeakMetrics, said 70% of accounts posting used duplicate messages, with some repeating the identical text dozens of times — a transparent sign of bot activity. Nearly 45% of Cracker Barrel posts on X during that 24-hour surge were estimated to be bot-generated. PeakMetrics also reported that nearly half of all posts calling for a boycott got here from bots.
Why the spike? Foreign entities often attempt to stoke political tension by tapping into what Dwyer describes as a ready-made audience primed for negative engagement. In Cracker Barrel’s case, its rebrand landed squarely within the politicized crosshairs of social media — and bots did the remainder.
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What this implies for B2B marketers
Consumer brands have greater visibility and appeal to a broader set of buyers than most B2B brands, so it’s easy to assume the business environment carries less risk.
But that isn’t necessarily true. Years ago, Google and CEB (now a part of Gartner) researched the role of emotion in B2B purchasing decisions. One of the important thing findings was that buyers feel a stronger emotional connection to B2B brands than to consumer brands.
For many individuals, that’s surprising — but the explanation is straightforward. It comes right down to personal risk. If you purchase the unsuitable L’Oréal lip gloss, it could also be annoying, but you won’t lose your job over it. Choose the unsuitable enterprise software and you could possibly damage your status, waste company money and even jeopardize your role. The stakes are higher, which drives a stronger emotional connection.
In our survey of over 400 B2B buyers across a dozen brands, we asked which brand attributes mattered most of their final purchasing decisions. Trustworthiness ranked primary, with reliability close behind.
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What the Cracker Barrel backlash reveals about brand vulnerability
The Cracker Barrel episode is a stark reminder that even probably the most thoughtful, research-driven branding efforts will be derailed after they collide with today’s volatile digital ecosystem. The real story wasn’t a misstep by a seasoned agency or a logo that missed the mark — it was how bot-driven outrage can hijack a narrative and turn a routine brand refresh right into a cultural flashpoint overnight.
For B2B marketers, the lesson isn’t to fear rebranding but to respect the emotional stakes involved. Buyers are more invested, more risk-averse and more attuned to signals of trust and reliability than we frequently assume. And while B2B brands may not receive the identical amount of public attention as consumer giants, they operate in an area where reputational missteps carry significant skilled consequences.
As lines blur between real sentiment, manufactured outrage and political polarization, marketers must approach rebrands with each courage and caution. Rebranding will all the time involve risk — but in a world where algorithms and bad actors can amplify negativity at scale, clarity, authenticity and stakeholder alignment have never mattered more.
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