Cracker Barrel has always been a traditional, southern restaurant chain. One may assume the company holds to traditional, southern beliefs. And one would be wrong.
On Thursday, June 8th, Cracker Barrel posted to their Facebook account. “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!” Their comments section ranges from surprise, support, and unfortunate hate comments that will not be repeated in this article.
Cracker Barrel has buckled under pressure from anti LGBTQ+ views before. In 2013, the restaurant chain pulled Duck Dynasty merchandise after one of the stars shared homophobic comments on GQ. A few strongly worded letters were written by fans, and Cracker Barrel put the merchandise back in their stores. A disappointment to many people who support the LGBTQ+ community.
However, the restaurant semi-redeemed themselves after publicly condemning a Pastor Grayson Fitts’ homophobic sermon in one of their restaurants. They also banned the religious leader from all restaurants, proving a sort of allyship for the community. This year, they are in total support and refuse to take down their post. A welcome surprise considering many companies’ response to backlash this year.
In 2022, Burger King Austria announced they would be launching a Pride Burger. The way they marketed this whopper was far from appropriate to both sides. A picture depicting the burgers with only “top” buns on one, and only “bottom” buns on the other. An obvious reference to tops and bottoms which is a sexual innuendo in the queer community.
The fumble had both sides of the coin demanding an apology from Burger King, who promptly took the burger off their menu. This year, the burger chain seems to be playing it on the safe side. They haven’t posted anything to social media or announced any upcoming menu items to celebrate pride.
Also in 2022, Postmates created a “bottom friendly menu” in their show of supporting LGBTQ+ folks. Once again, people were united in demanding a company to remove their version of expressing pride. This year, Postmates is listening to people in the community and settled for sponsoring RuPaul’s DragCon. No further plans have been shared with the public.
This year, McDonald’s Philippines was in full support of sapphics. They aired a commercial in the Philippines depicting a wlw relationship. Despite backlash from more traditional folks, the company refuses to stop airing the commercial.
However, the USA McDonald’s company has not commented on pride at all. They are sponsoring many pride parades this year but have seemingly opted to show support to Grimace for his birthday on all social media outlets. Not even doing the iconic pride logo change most companies settle for during Pride Month.
Dominos has supported parades in the past. One quick look at their company website indicates no plans to currently contribute to Pride Month. Their competitor Pizza Hut, released a children’s book last year called “Big Wig” that was immediately put on blast by traditional minded people. Despite the backlash, Pizza Hut continued to sell the book. Which makes it a bit confusing that the pizza chain, hasn’t so much as posted on social media in support of LGBTQ+ people this year.
Granted it is early in the month, and companies have plenty of time to show up in support of the community. But as of right now, Cracker Barrel is the top position of LGBTQ+ Pride this year. It’s not always easy to change old ways and go against the grain. But Cracker Barrel has demonstrated the necessary metamorphosis to make our world into a loving and accepting one.
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Adah Tyler
Hi, my name is Adah! Thanks for stopping by! Growing up, my grandma taught me so many recipes and tips for cooking in the kitchen. I’m so excited to share those things with all of you. You can find me on Instagram and Tiktok @shmaduh if you want to see more of my content.
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