Trump joins Cracker Barrel pile-on, says "chain should go back to the old logo"

Driving the news: Trump denounced Cracker Barrel's recent logo change, which jettisoned an illustration of a mostly silhouetted man, founder Dan Evins' uncle, leaning on the eponymous barrel.

• Trump said on his Truth Social platform that "Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before."
• "They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right," he said.
• Trump also brought up his own presidency: "In just a short period of time I made the United States of America the 'HOTTEST' Country anywhere in the World. One year ago, it was 'DEAD.' Good luck!"

By the numbers: As president, Trump's opinion has carried a lot of corporate weight even outside of official deals.

• American Eagle stock soared, for instance, the Monday after Trump hailed the company's controversial Sydney Sweeney commercial.
• Cracker Barrel shares rose 5% Tuesday after his post.

Catch up quick: Cracker Barrel's logo change was quickly and widely disparaged, largely by MAGA figures who called the switch "woke."

• The things that MAGA sometimes codes as "woke" — like representations of people of color and LGBTQ+ people — aren't actually present in the logo, although separately, conservatives have recently targeted Cracker Barrel for its DEI initiatives.
• "No one asked for this woke rebrand," Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), himself a former Cracker Barrel employee, said on X.

Right-wing influencers like Robby Starbuck, who was linked to Walmart's DEI overhaul last year, also opposed the rebrand.

• "You're about to learn that wokeness really doesn't pay," Starbuck wrote on X, after shares in the chain dropped following the change.

For the record: In a previous statement to Axios, Cracker Barrel noted that the new logo is its "fifth evolution" as well as "a call-back to the original and rooted even more in the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all back in 1969."

• "Uncle Herschel remains front and center in our restaurants and on our menu," the company said.
• The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's statement.