When Logos Go Wrong: What the Cracker Barrel Fiasco Teaches About Design Thinking

In the world of brand and marketing, few things are as instantly recognizable as a logo. It’s the visual representation of a company’s values and personality. So when a well-known (dare I say, beloved) brand like Cracker Barrel missteps with a logo redesign it’s more than just a design hiccup; it’s a cautionary tale about the importance of a full and integrated design thinking process.

The Cracker Barrel Controversy

Recently, Cracker Barrel faced major backlash when its logo update sparked public confusion, debate, and criticism. While the details of the incident depend on your media source, the takeaway is clear: even established brands are not immune to the consequences of skipping steps in design, stakeholder alignment, and user testing.

Why This Happened

At its core, the fiasco illustrates a common gap in how some companies approach branding: relying too heavily on creative intuition or executive approval, without thinking with a cross-functional lens.

Designers may focus on aesthetics, marketing teams on messaging, and executives on strategic vision, but if these elements aren’t considered together, the result can clash with customer perception, accessibility standards, or brand equity, i.e. the aforementioned.

The Design Thinking Solution

Design thinking is a framework that, when applied end-to-end, minimizes these risks. The process emphasizes:

1. Empathy: Understanding the audience’s expectations and perceptions before any design decisions are made.

2. Defining: Clearly articulating the problem the brand or logo redesign is solving.

3. Ideation: Generating multiple approaches with cross-functional input, ensuring creativity and feasibility coexist.

4. Prototyping: Creating low-fidelity versions of the logo and brand applications to test assumptions quickly.

5. Test: Validating the designs with real users, internal teams, and stakeholders to catch misalignments early.

   
   

Why Cross-Functional Integration Matters

A logo doesn’t exist in isolation. It interacts with marketing campaigns, product packaging, digital platforms, etc. By involving teams from UX, marketing, operations, legal, and even customer support, companies can ensure the design works in context and not just on screen. The Cracker Barrel situation is a perfect example: had every perspective been incorporated before rollout, potential pitfalls could have been caught early.

The Takeaway

Brand missteps like Cracker Barrel’s are reminders that great design is not just visual, it’s systemic. Using the full design thinking process in a cross-functional, integrated way helps brands create logos, experiences, and messaging that resonate authentically, avoid backlash, and deliver measurable business impact.

In the end, design thinking is about asking the right questions, not just making things look pretty. The next time your team embarks on a redesign, think beyond aesthetics and think about systems, empathy, and integration. Your customers (and your brand reputation) will thank you.