Now that the dust has settled, the branding agency fired and the old brand restored, it’s a good time to look at what really happened with the rebranding of Cracker Barrel — something the mainstream media largely overlooked.
Let’s start with the firing of the agency behind the rebrand. Prophet — founded by Scott Galloway and Ian Chaplen with David Aaker as vice chairman — is a powerhouse branding firm known for rigorous research and disciplined strategy. This isn’t a group of amateurs crowdsourcing a logo.
Prophet does its homework, has A-list clients and has successfully delivered hundreds of rebranding and branding projects. What went wrong?
How bot activity fueled the rebrand backlash
The most interesting part of this story never made headlines — likely overshadowed by the president’s comments that turned the rebrand into a politicized moment.
What was largely missing from the uproar was the real source of the rapid outrage: bots. According to the Wall Street Journal, bots posing as real users drove a disproportionate share of the social chatter that media outlets picked up. PeakMetrics — which works with the U.S. Air Force to identify foreign misinformation — found that the backlash originated from high-follower human accounts but was quickly amplified by bots.
By August 20, the day after the launch, X saw about 400 Cracker Barrel posts every minute. Molly Dwyer, director of insights at PeakMetrics, said 70% of accounts posting used duplicate messages, with some repeating the same text dozens of times — a clear sign of bot activity. Nearly 45% of Cracker Barrel posts on X during that 24-hour surge were estimated to be bot-generated. PeakMetrics also reported that almost half of all posts calling for a boycott came from bots.
Why the spike? Foreign entities often try to stoke political tension by tapping into what Dwyer describes as a ready-made audience primed for negative engagement. In Cracker Barrel’s case, its rebrand landed squarely in the politicized crosshairs of social media — and bots did the rest.
Dig deeper: When and how to approach a brand refresh
What this means for B2B marketers
Consumer brands have greater visibility and appeal to a broader set of buyers than most B2B brands, so it’s easy to assume the business environment carries less risk.
But that isn’t necessarily true. Years ago, Google and CEB (now part of Gartner) researched the role of emotion in B2B purchasing decisions. One of the key findings was that buyers feel a stronger emotional connection to B2B brands than to consumer brands.
For many people, that’s surprising — but the reason is simple. It comes down to personal risk. If you buy the wrong L’Oréal lip gloss, it may be annoying, but you won’t lose your job over it. Choose the wrong enterprise software and you could damage your reputation, waste company money or even jeopardize your role. The stakes are higher, which drives a stronger emotional connection.
In our survey of over 400 B2B buyers across a dozen brands, we asked which brand attributes mattered most in their final purchasing decisions. Trustworthiness ranked number one, with reliability close behind.
Dig deeper: Transform your B2B brand: 7 strategic insights
What the Cracker Barrel backlash reveals about brand vulnerability
The Cracker Barrel episode is a stark reminder that even the most thoughtful, research-driven branding efforts can be derailed when they collide with today’s volatile digital ecosystem. The real story wasn’t a misstep by a seasoned agency or a logo that missed the mark — it was how bot-driven outrage can hijack a narrative and turn a routine brand refresh into a cultural flashpoint overnight.
For B2B marketers, the lesson isn’t to fear rebranding but to respect the emotional stakes involved. Buyers are more invested, more risk-averse and more attuned to signals of trust and reliability than we often assume. And while B2B brands may not receive the same amount of public attention as consumer giants, they operate in a space where reputational missteps carry significant professional consequences.
As lines blur between genuine sentiment, manufactured outrage and political polarization, marketers must approach rebrands with both courage and caution. Rebranding will always involve risk — but in a world where algorithms and bad actors can amplify negativity at scale, clarity, authenticity and stakeholder alignment have never mattered more.
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