What Cracker Barrel can tell us about culture war

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Parker Molloy
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My latest newsletter is about how the right's obsession with policing what other people eat, what they say, what they do, and what medical procedures they're allowed to have can be best understood: with a post about Cracker Barrel

readthepresentage.com
What Cracker Barrel can tell us about culture war
It's about more than just online comments. It's about control.
10:47 AM · Aug 9, 2022

https://www.readthepresentage.com/p/cracker-barrel-culture-war

Earlier this month, Cracker Barrel announced on Facebook that it had added a new meatless option to its menu.

“Discover new meat frontiers. Experience the out of this world flavor of Impossible™ Sausage Made From Plants next time you Build Your Own Breakfast,” read the caption of a photo of two sausage patties (complete with a little “Impossible™” flag), a small pile of hash browns, and a couple of scrambled eggs.

Cracker Barrel joins a number of other fast-food and fast-casual restaurants such as Burger King, Red Robin, Umami Burger, White Castle, and Cheesecake Factory in offering Impossible™ meat alternatives. Now, am I ever going to actually order one of these products the next time I find myself in one of these places? But I’m sure enough people out there will order these items (and do order these items), as they wouldn’t be on the menu otherwise.

There’s a deeper story in the comments section, and it’s about control.

Glance at the comments and you’ll quickly notice a theme: threats of boycotts and accusations of “wokeness.”

“I just want to know why all these companies feel that they have to follow the leader on all of this crap,” wrote a man named Barry. “Cracker Barrel is a great company and they got great Without Woke Meat. Get the message most people don’t want this crap. You are only appealing to a small percentage of people. I still love Cracker Barrel but please stick to your roots.”

*snip*

[SheltieLover]

1. Kicking for visibility

[Aristus]

2. Cracker Barrel is just trying to expand its base in order to increase profits.

Do these detractors hate profits? Do these detractors hate the market economy? Are these detractors COMMUNISTS?!? DO THEY HATE AMERICA?!?!?

We should use this tactic on them. They've been using it against everyone else for decades...

[Torchlight]

3. 'Woke meat.'

May be the first time I've ever heard such a unique turn of phrase. From now on, I refer to Trump supporters as 'woke meat.'

[House of Roberts]

5. More like comatose meat.

[Haggard Celine]

8. Tainted meat

[Hermit-The-Prog]

16. MAGAts only appear when the meat's rotten.

[House of Roberts]

4. I go to Cracker Barrel only when

I want to decimate my Social Security check in one visit.

Too many rich fucks eat there to cause the price to be low enough for my wallet. I can do better elsewhere.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

6. We haven't eaten there in over a year.

The food is OK, nothing special.

[vlyons]

7. Well I don't like mac & cheese,

but I don't throw a hissey fit if you order it. I'm willing to let you be an ok person no matter what you order from the menu.

It's not our wokeness or liberal views that are the problem. It's their very own intolerance that makes them so unhappy and stressed out over shit that doesn't matter and is none of their business anyway.

[EYESORE 9001]

9. If someone else is getting something they want

it surely means something I want will be taken away from me.

-MAGAt thinking

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Dusting off my memory cobwebs . . . . was it Cracker Barrel who ran afoul of gay men some years ago?

Or am I thinking of some other similar chain restaurant?

[phylny]

11. Apparently the idiots complaining

have never heard of alpha gal - those who have it can’t eat meat from four-legged animals. This OSS a nice option for them.

[Shermann]

12. There's probably a slippery slope argument in there somewhere

If this vegetarian meat thing catches on, then they'll have to start downsizing the American real meat packing industry.

[Hortensis]

13. Cracker Barrel's clientele tend to be mostly conservative, located

predominantly in southern states and more in rural areas. (Near freeway onramps as I recall).

To my mind this development both says good things about Cracker Barrel and, probably even more so, confirms a market demand for these products being angrily denied by the reactionaries.

Just another example of social conservative rage generated by many decades of being on the wrong side of the change that most people want. Losers.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

14. Right-wing authoritarians can't "live and let live"...

... for whatever reason.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarian_personality

Authoritarians have a strong commitment to the traditional norms of society. They don't want to be unusual, they want to be just like everyone else in their group, and likewise they want everyone else to be conventional too. Diversity irritates them. Conforming to these norms is not just a social imperative but a moral one. Authoritarians reject the notion that social norms are arbitrary and that foreign norms are just as valid as theirs.

The conventionalism of authoritarians reflects a traditional belief in how people ought to behave that is not necessarily reflective of how most people actually behave.

With regards to religion, authoritarians tend to be fundamentalists.


RWA personality was the best predictor of a Trump supporter during the 2016 GOP primaries. Better than religion, education level, etc.

RWA's have been a study of keen interest ever since the rise of fascism in Europe -- e.g., the Nazis in Germany.

[Sky Jewels]

15. Magats love cruelty as much as they love control, and they WANT billions of animals

to be confined and tortured and brutally slaughtered in factory farms so they can stuff their stupid gobs with platters of meat.

I'm vegan for a number of reasons, including animal welfare, the environment, my own genetically high cholesterol, weight control, etc., but "pissing off Nazis through my very existence" ranks right up there.

[kacekwl]

17. Last time Cracker Barrel stuck to their roots

I believe they were sued for discrimination.

[Raine]

18. My cousin, her husband and their two kids are all vegans

they're also Republicans so this whole line of thinking is stupid and totally idiotic!