A faithful, family-friendly home to many Americans jumped to the front of the line in boycott calls last week when yet another restaurant chain foolishly celebrated June as Pride Month during a wave of corporate backlash.
Cracker Barrel, a restaurant rooted in their Southern country theme and old-timey décor, has been a consistent dining destination for many families across the country. Most of the time, these restaurants are located in heavily Republican areas, drawing in crowds of blue-collared, biscuit-lovin’ customers.
A recent post across their social media platforms showed a photo of their famous line of rocking chairs on the front porch — with one rainbow-colored chair in the center. They used this propaganda to demonstrate their support and embrace of the LGBT community.
The message read, “We are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our rainbow rocker). Happy Pride!”
The post backfired, gathering over 2,000 mostly negative comments in less than 23 hours. Cracker Barrel’s loyal crowd felt betrayed, as the woke agenda poured over their reliable, southern cooked pancake breakfast like sticky syrup.
In addition to the already-rampant boycotts of Bud Light, Target, Nike, and once-conservative Chick-fil-A, Cracker Barrel has positioned themselves directly in the line of fire. Many conservatives are livid over companies’ LGBT activism, and they aren’t accepting any extreme views on social issues. One comment on their post read, “Not necessary. No longer a family restaurant. Lost my business.” Another read, “Why! Why! Just sell food and stay out of politics.”
Other onlookers accused Cracker Barrel of “rainbow washing” — a term used when a company claims to support an issue for marketing purposes, when in reality they do not. Regardless of the business’s intentions behind the statement, it’s made headlines all over the country. No one expected such a traditional establishment to cave to modern ideologies.
All things considered, the past few weeks have felt like a societal conga-line, as companies pile on the Pride Month messaging. Despite all the backlash, some businesses have felt the pressure to make their LGBT activism public, and Cracker Barrel has been the most recent to fall prey. But in this climate of consumer pushback, the decision was almost certainly a risky one.
Suzanne Bowdey, senior writer at The Washington Stand, emphasized what Christians can accomplish through boycotting on last week’s Outstanding podcast. “I don’t need to spend my money to show them love, I need to stand for what’s right, and know that my stance for truth is actually loving.” For now, the boycotts show no signs of slowing, and as long as CEOs put politics over profits, the list will grow longer by the day.
