The CEO of Cracker Barrel is currently facing criticism for reportedly cutting employee hours and lowering food standards. According to Daily Mail, these issues, along with calls for her to step down, come in the wake of a poorly received rebranding effort.
Earlier this week, the restaurant chain revealed a new logo for the first time in almost five decades, which led to customer backlash and a significant drop in stock value, with nearly $100 million lost in market worth by Thursday.
President and CEO Julie Masino, who earns $1 million a year, has become a target for those outraged over the change.
Employees have expressed their dissatisfaction with company leadership by posting complaints on the website Glass Door.
A crew member in Minnesota posted: ‘To the CEO Julie Masino, stop cutting our hours.
‘We are making less pay for more work when we are understaffed because you suck at bringing this dead company from its grave.
One review criticized the decision to reuse bacon that is past its prime, highlighting the decline in food quality: “Stop lowering your food quality. Bacon shouldn’t be kept overnight, without a doubt.”
One worker, who claims they are an Associate Manager at a branch in South Carolina, posted: ‘New leadership is driving the company down.
‘There is now nothing that makes Cracker Barrel any different from every other below-average restaurant chain.’
President and CEO Julie Masino has become a target for those outraged over the change
A Cracker Barrel sign featuring the old logo hangs on the outside of a restaurant on August 21, 2025 in Homestead, Florida
In Ohio, a general manager commented on the corporate leadership, stating: “There is poor management and a lack of traditional employee relations at all levels.”
Daily Mail has approached the company for comment on the allegations made by the employees.
The company’s new logo, which abandons the iconic Uncle Herschel mascot, now includes only the brand name in a simple, rounded yellow hexagon.
President Donald Trump’s son Donald J. took to X to demand to know ‘WTF is wrong with Cracker barrel,’ quoting a post by the ‘Woke War Room’ account.
The post had claimed the chain had ‘scrapped a beloved American aesthetic and replaced it with sterile, soulless branding.’
One X user added: ‘I am boycotting Cracker Barrel until they change the logo back and fire the CEO.’
Another posted: ‘Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino should face charges for this crime against humanity.’
‘This Cracker Barrel remodel/rebrand is one of the most upsetting things I’ve seen in a long time. Literally everyone I know is in shock.’
The new Cracker Barrel logo is seen in a restaurant after it was unveiled earlier this week
Widespread anger erupted on social media over the move to rebrand the company
As the rebrand was revealed the stock price started to fall
Fellow chain Steak ‘n’ Shake even released a statement saying: ‘Sometimes, people want to change things just to put their own personality on things.
‘At CB, their goal is to just delete the personality altogether. Hence, the elimination of the ‘old-timer’ from the signage.
‘Heritage is what got Cracker Barrel this far, and now the CEO wants to just scrape it all away.
‘At Steak n Shake, we take pride in our history, our families, and American values. We will never market ourselves away from our past in a cheap effort to gain the approval of trend seekers.’
As the toxic response started to roll out earlier this week, Masino went on Good Morning America and defended the move.
The furor over the rebranding is the latest to engulf corporate America after Jaguar also suffered a similar backlash
She told the outlet: ‘People like what we’re doing. Cracker Barrel needs to feel like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow.
‘The things that you love are still there. We need people to choose us, and we want people to choose us.’
She added that the top question Florida-based managers asked her during a recent meeting was ‘How can I get a remodel, when can I get a remodel and how do I get on the list?.’
One angered social media user slammed her remarks on GMA as being ‘delusional’, writing: ‘Julie Masino has destroyed the brand.
‘Literally, how long until the board removes her as CEO? Not only has she destroyed the brand, she is delusional in saying that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Clearly, it is not.’
The furor is just the latest to engulf the corporate world after the British carmaker Jaguar drew howls of indignation from customers when it rebranded and removed its iconic ‘leaping cat’ emblem.
Some have also likened the move to Bud Light after a similar fiasco happened for the beer company when they ran a disastrous campaign with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
