Cracker Barrel and the Power of Conservative Boycotts

The uproar over the restaurant chain’s rebrand might appear trivial, but it carries a deeper significance.

Last week, another viral culture war story captured the headlines. The old-timey restaurant chain Cracker Barrel had rebranded, removing the old man and the barrel from its logo, and replacing it with a simple, modernistic, typography-only design.

At first, I dismissed the story as trivial. I have never set foot in a Cracker Barrel and, as such, have lit…