BOTTOM OF THE BARREL

26:31The stock price did dip. It took a nice dip. But how's it doing today, Kevin? Also, we just got a shout out to Armin. where's the review Armin I know you're very busy but we're on the front lines of design discourse right here this is the Super Bowl right now what do you mean this is the Super Bowl this is the Super Bowl yeah we're doing this a week late the Super Barrel this is again bottom of the barrel we need Armin where's the puns where's the takes he's got bigger steaks to fry country fried I bet Armin knows a thing or two about Cracker bro yeah of course yeah he's a man of i'm sure i'm sure it's right off the highway for him yeah armin not having a review it's uh he's off his rocker you know yeah i sent you that video of tmz where the like hulk hogan died and they're like i got 100 words i got 100 words all right go live go live and then like they're just like didn't even think about they're like he's dead that's crazy that's a fuck that's that's what you know that's what we need to be as a podcast where we're you know yeah you think so we need to be firing off these takes without uh without impunity with no with reckless abandon with reckless abandon immediately i love it or i hate it and to be honest i'm gonna just say it i have to be the guy again that defends the rebrand that everybody hates but it's good you love being this guy no you hate oh i hate to be this guy you love to be this guy listen i thrive on controversy you were meant to be this guy i love going against the grain and especially when everyone's wrong it's good this is like listen this is like a 75 burger king which burger king was heralded it won all sorts of awards but they didn't kill the king what yeah they did where where's the king been recently you've seen no no he i mean the king wasn't in the logo you don't need you don't need your mascots in your logo there's a place for mascots and they're they're they're on the menu they're in other places you don't need them sitting next to your fucking giant you know on the logo especially when he looks as old as he does he's just saying come on in he's saying we got a table for you now this is take a load off no put the old man on the porch you know that's where he belongs you know we we don't the logo looks great everyone should just chill the fuck out it's a barrel they kept the barrel they just use this in a smarter way and i think we got we can't politicize this like i know we're they're trying and of course everyone needs something to get mad about but well the politis the politicizing of this issue is the dumbest thing ever yeah that's what i'm saying it's so dumb and then uh they have to put out a statement a promise to our guests in the last few days have shown us anything it's how deeply people care about Cracker Barrel.

29:02We're truly grateful for your heartfelt voices. You've shown us that we could have done a better job sharing who we are and who we'll always be. Don't fucking cave to this angry mob of Cracker Barrel. Stand on business, you know? What has not changed and will never change are the values of the company we build down when Cracker Barrel first opened in 1969. Hard work, family, and scratch cooked food with care. A place where everyone feels at home, no matter. That's Cracker Barrel you always find. It's not going anywhere. The logo remodels will make headlines, but their very good focus is where it belongs, in the kitchen and on your plate, serving generous portions of the food you crave.

29:40Meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, country fried. We're starting with meatloaf, Kevin. Yeah. Wow. I'm not reading all this. I saw a TikTok of an employee at Cracker Barrel being like, this is how they cook the meatloaf. And it's just like in a mat. It's like in a tray and they just pop it in the microwave. one thing I do find funny is about this like discourse about uncle Herschel. It's like, first and foremost, it's not uncle Herschel, Herschel, but like, he will still be on the menu, which I think is hilarious. It's like, he's not going anywhere. He's on the menu. And then I saw someone like posted the menu.

30:12He's not on the menu. So they just had to, I think he's like, uh, where, where is he? I think he's like stamped next to a signature dish or something. Oh, really? They made him a stamp. Yeah. They made him a stamp. My boy. What did you do to my boy? Uncle Herschel. You made him a stamp. Listen, he just didn't need to be in the logo anymore. And that's okay. We can all get by. I think it would have been more commendable if they had just killed him. They should have taken him out back and just killed him. Yeah, they should have done a sort of, was it Mr. Peanut, right? Remember when Gary Vee killed Mr.

30:43Peanut? Well, at least Mr. Peanut came back. Did he? Yeah. They're just saying, all right, it's time to go in the back room. Yeah, we need younger. We need younger people. We need hot young people at the fucking Cracker Barrel. But hot young people can be welcomed to a restaurant by an old man. No, they don't need to. We just, yeah, this new brand will invite the young people in. Wait till you see the young people clamoring. They're going to flock to this place. They're going to come flock into this place. One thing, though, in all this discourse that did come up, that did kind of make me a little bit, you know, sort of feel like an old man yelling at Cloud, which is they, in the process of this rebrand, it brought to life to me.

31:26that the peg game is an incredible, incredible piece of branding. Absolutely. It's an incredible piece of brand experience. It is something that I remember distinctly. And I didn't know that it was just a cracker barrel staple. Yeah. I didn't know that they were. I just assumed that that was a game that was at many restaurants. But apparently the peg game, if you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, But you basically plug a golf tee into a thing and then you have to like jump over it until you remove all of them but one. Right? That's a great game. It is a great game. One of the things about this game that they did change was that, you know, if you leave one, you're a genius.

32:13If you leave two, you're pretty smart. You leave three, you're just dumb. And leave four, and you're an ignoramus. Spelled E-G-N-O-R-A. and they spelled it phonetically yeah for the ignoramus is out there uh that that's just a good joke and in the new version it says leave only one you're a genius leave two rock in the chair but not the game three or more no reason to be embarrassed try again that's some bullshit you can't we can't make an ignoramus joke anymore yeah isn't that enough to boycott alex that And that makes me sort of potentially be on the side of our - Participation trophy. The participation trophy occasion of Cracker Barrel?

32:56Yeah. That is really - That's horrific. And the thing that really puts it over the top for me is that they spelled embarrassed wrong. There's two R's in embarrassed and they only have one. So they should be embarrassed. They should be embarrassed. That's ridiculous. So - No. My overall take on this is that this is slop. This is the slopification of an American institution. It's becoming bland slop. It's becoming freaking like gruel. Yeah. Like it has no substance to it anymore. Like the gravy on the country-fed steak is what you're saying. The gravy is good. But now it's a slop brand serving slop food to slop individuals.

33:39I think we can agree that they do need to work on the food, which to be honest is a promise that they need to keep because burger king but their food didn't change at all it's the fucking it's worse than it ever was i i told you i went to a burger king one day on on at a rest stop and had one of the worst meals of my life it was disgusting it was yeah but like i don't know burger king is burger king it should fucking they should all be the whopper was it was a terrible burger yeah the onion rings were disgusting and i have fond memories of those onion rings yeah We'll see what happens with the food.

34:12I mean, I think there's only really so much they can do to hit their price points because, you know, nobody's going to be wanting to pay like regular ass restaurant prices for Cracker Barrel. Yeah. I think it's a family establishment. You should be able to take your entire family there and not really break the bed. You can still bring your family there. We just removed the guy from the logo. That's it. It's a simpler logo and a great monogram. We haven't talked about the CB. It's really nice. Kieran Brandon back there should adopt it. Yeah, he should change his avatar. It ain't right, damn it.

34:47It's really strong. It ain't right. No, it's a strong rebrand. I think it's a 7.8 out of 10. It's very good. I think it's a 3.6. It's very good, and people just don't like change. And in the end, I will be right. Leave the old man alone. Yeah, sure. Leave him alone. Put him back in the logo. Put him on the menu. Do you think they'll cave? Do you think they'll put him back in the middle? I really can't say. I don't think they will. I don't think they, you know, I think they've dug their heels into the ground. People were also mad at Cracker Barrel a couple years ago during Pride when they released like a rainbow rocking chair.

35:27So there is some sort of like precedent that people were already mad at them. And then they're like, you know, this is the straw that broke the camel's back. removing the beloved old man. Yeah, who is not Uncle Herschel. Just to be clear, not Uncle Herschel. Herschel McCartney was the uncle of the co-founder, Dan Evans. He was Cracker Bill's Goodwill ambassador strolling to towns inviting people to join him at the stores. They need to bring that back. Not creepy at all. They need to bring an old guy back. They need 660 old men to walk around towns and invite people to Cracker Barrel. they need to return that's what the modern heritage would do modern heritage wouldn't take them out wouldn't gentrify the interiors of these stores they'd keep the interiors and they'd have 660 old men on staff walking around towns inviting people to crack a bit yeah yeah a bunch of old guys walking around town trying to get young people to come to the store what could possibly go wrong Kevin it's a great idea luckily Uncle Herschel lived by the golden rule treat everybody as you'd like to be treated yourself be down to earth humble soft spoken and wear a smile.

36:38I mean, listen, and so I guess people speculate that Uncle Herschel was on the Cracker Barrel logo, but that's not the case. They don't say who it is. Just distancing themselves from Uncle Herschel, maybe potentially if he's got any sort of baggage. And the logo actually, here we go, Kevin, was created by Nashville designer Bill Holy. Shout out to Bill. Put some respect on his name. On a napkin back in 1977. He's rolling his grave right now. Dude, he made that logo on a napkin? There's no fucking way. That logo is way too complicated to be drawn on a napkin. I'm calling bullshit. Not all logos are done on napkins.

37:14Also, get some paper. Come on. Napkin. They didn't draw that logo on a napkin. With the goal of creating a feeling of nostalgia with an old-timer wearing overalls. I guess you, Uncle Hart, the man in the overalls was part of the original logo. And yeah, this year we unveiled a brand new logo. Rather than showing just one person, we want to feature lots of people. Where are the other people, Kevin? That's what I'm saying. They should have had Shane Gillis, Logan and Jake Paul. Should have taken a page out of KFC's book, making everybody the Colonel. People just want to be mad. But let's move on, Kevin.

37:48Kaitlin Clark got a new logo. Nike Basketball introduced Kaitlin Clark, has a new signature athlete, expanding the brand's partnership with the most watched, impactful, and passionate players in the game. Kaitlin will continue to work side by side with experts across the brand to help shape the future of basketball, fueling Hoops culture, growing the women's game, and empowering the next generation. Caitlin Nike unveiled a new signature logo, an instantly recognizable combination of two interlocking C's as extraordinary as the athlete they represented. The logo will come to life in a new collection of sportswear on the court staples.

38:18And my guess would be a sneaker sometime soon. I like the logo. Yeah, the logo is great. I think it's nice. It's a little fancy. You know, I know that Caitlin likes her sort of fashion. So it's giving a little bit of like Chanel kind of energy with the interlocking C's. It's a bit classy. Yeah, I like it. I was looking for some hidden meanings because now my brain is broken like that. I'm like, what's your number? Where's it hidden in the logo? And you know what? It's just two C's. It's just a good mark. It's just a good mark. Not everything needs a million hidden meanings. I kind of like that about it.

38:49I think one C stands for Caitlin and the other one stands for Clark. Is that enough for you? Yeah. Yeah. Damn, dude. Where did you see that in the logo? Oh, yeah. There's the two C's. There's the one on the left and one on the right. So yeah, there you go. Pretty damn good. I like it. It's nice. It'll look good on sneakers. It will scale down. Yeah. I think as far as basketball logos go, signature athlete logos, a lot of them suck. Yeah. I think we can confidently say that. Yeah. Most of them are. There are plenty of athlete logos that suck. And this one's good. Yeah. It's not the Wemby one. The Wemby one rocks.

39:21Yeah. The Wemby one's awesome. The alien. We love the Wemby one. Yeah. I mean, two Cs. That's it. Caitlin Clark. We'll be interested to see what they do with Paige Buckets because I'm a big Paige Buckets guy. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a big fan. she can fucking hoop dude you ever watch her play she's yeah i've seen her i've seen her play she's breaking all of caitlin clark's records right yeah she's coming to the league and she's she's tearing it apart well rookie of the year she's gonna be the yeah i think she's no caitlin clark oh i disagree i think she's as good i think it's gonna be really fun i think uh i just looked it up but she is signed to nike as well so i feel like page will get her own uh sort of uh logo and in short order here.

40:01So I think if they play this right, if WNBA is smart, like they'll create some sort of, you know, rivalry of some sort or not that we need to pit them against each other, but like these are two incredible sort of athletes and incredible basketball players. And I do feel like there's, um, that there should be competition for the next two decades. Yeah. If it, if, and I think it will catapult the WNBA even further than it really is at the moment, which is pretty fucking. Yeah. Not to mention all the young 'uns coming up right now, too. Yeah. No, it's cool. It makes me excited. I think also Paige is like a cool swag.

40:34Like, I feel like Caitlin Clark, she doesn't have a lot of swagger. I'm just going to say it. Her swagger's on the court. She's a competitor. She is. She's a great baller. I'm just saying. Her swag, I don't know. I'm more of a Paige Buckets guy. That's just me. I just like, I like the way she carries herself. I like the cut of her jib. All right. Speaking of Jibs, Kevin, we got a new logo for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Famously, the Irishman was sort of in a fighting position. Yeah, now he's running the damn ball. And now he's running the ball. I don't like this. Yeah. It pisses me off. Yeah, Kevin, go off.

41:11Go off, King. Why don't you like it? It ain't right. Yeah. Just let the leprechaun fight. I don't know. What's the big deal? He's got his fists up. Yeah. Is it setting a bad message for the kids? He's balding. He's got his fists up. Just let him fight. I haven't looked at this logo, obviously. I don't really think about the Notre Dame fighting Irish football team all that much. But I like that he's got his feet in separate directions. And then he's got this hat. He's got the fedora. And it's kind of slanting down. I mean, I'm more mad about this than Cracker Barrel. This is terrible. This is a Travis.

41:48They yassified this guy. No, they really did. It's unfortunate. This is really unfortunate. And yeah, he's running the ball. He's got the hat, but he looks like he was made from some fucking TikToker. Yeah. It's got TikTok energy. Definitely. Yeah. He used to be drunk and now he's running the ball. Where about him makes you feel like he's drunk? Oh, because he's fighting? It's a hidden meaning. It's hidden inside of his stance. I'm somewhat Irish. I can say this. It's because he's got his left foot going left and his right foot going right. Yeah. He's maybe a bit inebriated. Okay. Kevin, you know, it's funny.

42:21I was doing some preparation for this podcast. I was like, where did the fighting Irish nickname come from? And actually, it's rooted in a combination of factors, including the bravery of the Irish soldiers in the Civil War, a strong Irish heritage of Notre Dame, and its popularization by sports writers in the 1920s who turned what was likely a derogatory term into a symbol of pride and a never-say-die spirit. So it was a nickname that became an official name in 1927 with the university president, Matthew Walsh, embracing the terms embodiment of bravery and commitment. Wow, that's beautiful. Well, there's fucking facts on the podcast.

42:53And now he's running the ball. And then they're just like, yeah, the never say never attitude is gone. He just now just runs the ball. Yeah, put the fists up again. Yeah. Come on. We can't be a fighting Irish and we're just running. This is terrible. Are people mad about this all night? I don't know. I think Cracker Barrel's taking most of the heat. Do you think they had this in their back pocket and then they saw - Great time for it. Yeah, no, I agree. They nailed the timing of this because people would have probably been mad about this, but no. Too mad about Cracker Barrel. I don't know. And with all the tradition that football program has, and I'm not a big Notre Dame head, although I am going to a game this year for my cousin's bachelor party.

43:29Oh, really? I've never been to a big-time college football game. It's pretty fire. I've only been to the University of Buffalo football games. It's pretty fire. I'm not willing to call this. There's nothing like it. Yeah, no. It's an experience I'd like to have. I'd like to go to the big house in Michigan. I'd like to go to something, somewhere. It's cool. Yeah. I don't know. I need to find a game. and get my ass somewhere. Yeah, do it. I think it'd be fun. Where are you going to see? I think it's like Notre Dame, NC State or something. Sick. I don't know. I'm not a big college football guy, Kevin.

44:02I'm not, you know, it's just not for me. I have enough sports and things that I'm into. But yeah, Kevin, before we get out of here, America has a new creative director. All right. Thank God. Finally. They're calling him the first creative director, but I don't know if that's true. I feel like America is, you know, the White House has probably had a creative director before, But his name is Joe Gebbia, and he is the co-founder of Airbnb. Let's get him on the pod. Yeah, come on the pod, Joe. He's been appointed the first ever chief design officer. Okay, so maybe that's the first time they've used that title of the United States, leading the White House's new national design studio.

44:41Talk about politicized. Yikes. Talk about a tough gig. But they did get a decent guy for the job. He's a RISD graduate who has dual degrees in graphic design and industrial design. Gebbia turned a single San Francisco apartment rental into Airbnb, a now global company that has reshaped how people travel and connect. Last year, he launched Samira, Airbnb's in-house design studio exploring architecture, service design, and software engineering. Now his next canvas is the American government himself, reimagining federal websites and services with the same user-centered vision that built Airbnb. be.

45:18Well, federal websites fucking suck. So I think this is a positive thing, hopefully. Get some UX in there. Get some sites that work. Have you ever looked on the trademark website? That's one that really needs an update. Yeah. No, there's a lot of really, truly terrible websites out there that are related to the government. So I mean, is that really what he's going to be doing? Or do you think he's just going to be Trump's personal graphic designer? I mean, I am pretty sure that they've already got that covered. They definitely have people in there who can make Instagram graphics. Yeah. Hopefully this guy is just...

45:52Doing some higher level stuff is what you're saying? Yeah. I mean, I hope everyone loves a website that works properly and is easy to use. Yeah. The National Design Studio is an interesting concept. Did they ever have that? Is that new? Whoa, it's got a website. It kind of looks like our website. It's got a big type. is leading America by design initiative. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Troubling. It's black and white, which looks kind of sick. It's, so I have mixed feelings about this. Obviously, like it's very cool to see design like sort of, you know, a chief design officer of America. Like that sounds pretty fucking cool.

46:34It's like design at the highest level. And I do think that's, you know, it's a nice, It's a nice symbol of what design means for people and how our government probably could use some design sort of thinking and great designers in its process and in its people and in its business. It's a tough gig, I'll just say it. I don't know that I would personally want to be the chief propaganda officer for Donald Trump. Personally, not for me. Well, they already got the propaganda flowing. No, I know. But I don't know that that's something that... I don't know. The National Design Studio by executive order.

47:19I mean, that's kind of gangster, but I don't know. Are they taking on outside clients? When are they going to post their case studies, Kevin? I want to see some stuff. They're on X, the Everything app, National Design Studio. Of course. Of course they are. Well, they kind of have a sick logo. It's like a minimalist flag. Did you see this? I haven't seen it. It's kind of like a flag, but kind of like a simplified version. Yeah, yeah. Sure. Yeah, sure. And yeah, shout out to Joe Jebbia. No relation to the other guy, Jebbia, the Supreme guy. The guy that founded Supreme. Yeah, I mean, listen, this is...

47:57Some people sent this to us, so I think people are talking about it online. Are people mad? I don't know that people... What's the temperature on this? The temperature are... People don't love the idea of it. They're not against design, but they're not against... It's the man that's created the executive order and how he's going to use this new design studio. Well, how is he going to use it to make websites better? I don't know. They're working to improve how Americans experience their government online, in person, and the spaces in between. i mean it sounds they're saying good stuff it sounds like a good thing i mean we should be voting online right we shouldn't go those fucking goddamn fucking we have to go to those like children's basketball courts and and and use a machine from like 30 50 years ago and put a piece of paper yeah no it's it's it's pretty dumb that's insane yeah i mean that can't be the best way we have to operate just send me a text what could possibly go wrong.

49:01Dude's claiming he's going to get rid of mail-in voting. Is that true? That's what he's saying. I don't know if he's... Yeah, that sounds bad. I don't like this for Joe. I'm worried for Joe. Joe will be fine. You think Joe will be fine? Yeah, Joe will be more than fine. He's got that... He's comfortable. I think this is a tough gig. I'm just going to say. I think this is a tough gig for Joe. I wonder how much Joe is getting paid for this gig because tricky. Tricky, tricky job. But hey, you know what? Somebody's got to do it. Someone's got to do it. I didn't get an email. I didn't get a call. But you know what?

49:39Yeah. No, I mean, maybe I'm not the right guy for the job. I'm just going to say it. Listen, I'm, I am. You're also not the right guy. I'm all, I'm all for it. If it is just revamping websites and, you know, making them more usable and friendly to people. I think that's a great thing. I hear you. I think just because, I think just because it comes from a person that, you know, we don't like or whatever. Yes. I think people are quick to be like, oh, this is going to be the propaganda machine. But the propaganda machine's literally at work already. It doesn't matter. Go on Twitter. They don't need a UX designer to be designing propaganda.

50:15Yeah, they got the best in the world at doing propaganda. You ever see those fucking TikTok videos? Yeah, they're already doing the propaganda. The propaganda that's going down there. So hopefully this guy's actually going to do design. for websites and the spaces and experiences in the spaces in between. Yeah, sure. Yeah, I agree with you. The propaganda machine has got the real pros at it, which are like - It's alive and well. Psychopathic AI, Will Smith video concert type shit. Absolutely. They're making all sorts of crazy propaganda stuff. They don't need Joe Gebbia, whatever his name is, to do this.

50:49I agree with you. If he is doing this to make websites better for the government, I'm here for it. But I can understand a healthy skepticism from the people thinking maybe this could go south. Yeah, we'll keep our eyes on it. We'll keep an eye out. And also keep an eye out on the Cracker Barrel story, the big story of 2025 coming in here in August. My prediction is they stick with it. I think they stick with it. I think people will cool the temperatures down on it and maybe even bring their ass over to a Cracker Barrel to try some of the delicious meal. I want to see a brand do a rebrand and then say, psych.

51:30We were just kidding. I mean, I have thought about that in the last day as I've been thinking about this a little bit more. It's like it just continues to be a great marketing machine. Yeah, definitely. To get everyone on planet Earth talking about Cracker Barrel. and I have to think that that's a good thing even after this sort of like, you know, sort of people, the protesting stops or whatever. But yeah, I mean, people take change. Here's my Nathan for you plan. Okay, what do you got? Design a truly horrible brand system that everyone hates. For a major brand? For a major brand. Yeah. Roll it out.

52:04Who do you think? Taco Bell? Like Taco Bell does like a really bad rebrand that's like good enough to be kind of like - They modernize it. They take the bell out. You know, they make it all bland and shit. And then they roll it out. And then maybe a week. Let it simmer for like a week or two. And just be like, hey guys, we fucked up. You know, we hear you. Yeah, we're bringing it back. We're bringing it. We're going back to the old rebrand. Yeah, they chocolate. Or maybe they use it like, they use it as an avenue to like get a sicker rebrand through. Like, you know, going back into the modern heritage.

52:40So they just, they make a ribbit. They just constantly are bringing it back and changing it. No, no, no. Or Choco Taco. You release a shitty brand as a disguise for the new rebrand, which is like a step in the right direction. Like a step in the taking the, you know, shout out fucking Mike Perry. Okay. You know, taking the modern heritage, bringing it back to life and breathing new life into it that, you know, gets the people going. That people like, you know, maybe bring back. the fucking you know bell from the i don't i i don't have the you know about shit right in front of me but bring back the the really good one yeah no it's funny taco bell is too like savvy to pull this move off but i was thinking about mike perry he was talking about red lobster yeah i feel like red lobster could pull this off you know they do some like new rebrand they remove the lobster they do something really truly terrible that like people think is the new rebrand even though it kind of looks better but it's not good and they say psych and then they say second they pull it out.

53:41But hey, Kevin, you're giving these free ideas away on the pod. People should have to pay for that. So cut all that last up. All right. Sounds good. Thank you, everyone. We appreciate you. We'll be back with a guest episode unless some other crazy design story happens and we have to talk about it and cut clips and get in the free. Absolutely. Thank you. Peace.

54:07Cracker Barrel

54:12Cracker Barrel

54:18Cracker Barrel I want my barrel back I want my barrel back Cracker Barrel, Cracker Barrel What's up with that? What the hell, what the hell, Yontay What the hell, Ebron James I want my Cracker Barrel back Mmm I want my Cracker Barrel back

54:53This has got to be a bad joke Cracker Barrel's gone full No, no, no Don't they know that woke is broke? I swear I'm losing all my hope The game has changed and it's a goddamn shame Please, please make Cracker Barrel great again Whoa, whoa Cracker Barrel Whoa, whoa Cracker Barrel Whoa, whoa I want my barrel back I want my barrel back Cracker Barrel, Cracker Barrel What's up with that? What the hell, what the hell are you on tape? What the hell are you on tape? I want my Cracker Barrel back I want my Cracker Barrel back

56:06I want my barrel back I want my barrel back

56:21What the hellie, what the hellie What the hellie What the hellie on, what the hellie barring What the hellie bird I want the Hillebrog train With this Hillebrog train Cracker Barrel

56:44Cracker Barrel

56:50Cracker Barrel I want my barrel back I want my barrel back I want my barrel back