Cracker Barrel changes course, returns 'Duck Dynasty' products to shelves

[onehandle]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer



Cracker Barrel Old Country Store reversed its decision to pull certain ‘Duck Dynasty’ items from the shelves, amid backlash from customers.

The company made the following announcement on its Facebook page:

“When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that's just what we've done.

"You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren't shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong."

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/celebrities_gossip/Cracker-Barrel-stops-selling-some-Duck-Dynasy-products.html

---

Didn't dine there before due to their anti-gay policies anyway.

And that is a man planning to plant pipe bombs.

[patricia92243]

2. Surprise, surprise (sarcastically)

[Moostache]

3. They join Chik-fill-hate on my list...

That was craptactular restaurant chain to begin with, but I would rather starve than eat at a place with so little scruples.

They can kiss my ass and cater to the mouth-breathers without my patronage.

[wilt the stilt]

5. I doubt that you have ever gone there.

I have been to Cracker Barrel HQ many times. I cabled all their restaurants for their POS system. They tried to do the right thing but this is business and they cannot alienate their base. You have to stay in business. I was treated very well at corporate and I am not white. At least they tried. Better than most.

[Moostache]

7. There is a Cracker Barrel restaurant 3 miles from my home...and yes I HAD been there...

They want to stay in business with right wing lunatics and hate mongers, they are welcome to be my guest....they can do so without my patronage. I am sorry to not give partial credit for failed attempts to do the right thing. You remove something offensive BECAUSE it is offensive, not because the reaction is either positive or negative. If the symbol were something more in-your-face like little plastic nooses or swastikas or tiny burning rainbow flags, ask yourself if you'd still give a goddamn about that business's "need to stay in business"?

They were right to move the crap (even if it was for obviously wrong reasons - they had no principled stand, only a miscalculated opinion poll I guess), caving on it is simply appeasing a belief system and a type of socially sanctioned hatred that needs to be erradicated, not countenanced.

Good day to you sir...and please enjoy your meals wherever you choose to spend your money. I personally like it when these businesses go out of their way to show me their true colors and make the decisions very much black and white in my eyes. If you see the appropriate shades of gray to support your own moral compass, then more power to you and your more nuanced perceptions.

[yeoman6987]

30. Problem

Principles are great and important. However they probably need to stay in business too. If their base boycotts, they cannot survive.

[gtar100]

45. Too many evils are justified by saying it was just a business decision. Cracker Barrel may have lost

an opportunity to cultivate a better image for themselves. Instead they caved to a very vocal group of people who are acting out of ignorance. They decided to side with them and that is their choice. But they've just defined themselves as an organization that supports hatred and bigotry. Maybe that won't affect their bottom line but it sure makes a clear distinction of who they are. And the people can now make a more conscious choice whether to support their establishment or not.

[katmondoo]

4. Why does anyone want to watch a show with a bunch of

bearded ugly red necks. I don't care what anyone of them say. Just another dumb TV show.

[RKP5637]

14. They are gross and backward, and sadly, I think, what many Americans aspire to be. n/t

[Cryptoad]

44. In real "reality",

They are a bunch of country club republicans far from being rednecks. but they have the Trailer Trash of the Red Moocher States convinced they are one of their own...all the way to BANK!

My money is on A&E and them kissing and making up, then back to milking the Trailer Trash!

[RKP5637]

60. Yep, that sums it up rather well IMO! n/t

[hexola]

65. Isn't duck hunting a sport of elites and landed gentry...?

"Buck Dynasty" would have been more accurate...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. Trolls routinely claim to be "loyal customers".

[EC]

8. The right is very loud and threatening.

I'll bet many were threatening and very foul mouthed. They were intimidated and gave in.

If that is the customer they want, let them have them. I have never been to a Cracker Barrel since the late 70's anyway.

[santroy79]

31. you know the left used to be very loud and threatening.

now we just stay in the shadows. Sad but true.



By the way I like Cracker Barrel.

[SansACause]

9. Man, their loyal customers sure had a heart attack over this.

Then again, it could have been over the food.

[lunasun]

10. Haters are their customer base and the that is who they listen to I guess-Good to know

This show and it's national popularity, even before the comments , say a lot about this country 2013 .

[RKP5637]

15. One downhill slide, much of my life I've been watching the US steadily decline in

many ways ... the shows popularity demonstrates a lot about what America has become. Some states I won't even travel in, much less even remotely work/live there.

[lunasun]

27. There are large areas I will not travel to in the US !!

Regions really.....
But we do travel here and out of country
Last year went to NYC and California and we had great trips and good times and were welcome everywhere
But, I suppose those 2 places would be red lined by the ' Blessed be no fruits and nuts & we prefer the color white " crowd .
However, fair to say this duck dude would look out of place in NYC or CA
He might not get many to agree, or run into to trouble if he started talking that trash in either location we spent our travel $$ in.
Bunch of suburban office workers who never hunted or called a duck probably love this show and buy all the product$
I think the present and future unenlightened in this country are only going to go intellectually/socially downhill from this point
I am usually an optimistic person however I don't see a turn around .

[RKP5637]

32. Most things, it seems, generally have to hit bottom before they turn around, looking

back in history, humans can be extremely brutal toward each other, that, has always been a WTF to me. As time marches forward, it seems many want to repeat the past, lessons not learned.

Without sounding too far out, sometimes I think only interplanetary intervention will help earth. Another thought I often have is, being a technologist, as technology moves forward, many will be left behind wandering in the forest stuck in the past.

[LovingA2andMI]

51. Agree....

And considering Cracker Barrell historical problems with the African-American community, this is a place I have not visited and frankly never will. Either way, I'm sure one persons' boycott will not kill the restaurants business model.

"Cracker Barrel (CBRL) has agreed to an $8.7 million settlement to resolve all lawsuits brought or supported by the NAACP that accused the restaurant chain of segregating blacks in the smoking section and denying them service.

"This matter has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction and the parties are now ready to move forward," Donald Turner, the chain's president and chief operating officer, said Thursday. "Cracker Barrel is very pleased with this settlement."

David Sanford, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the settlement "represents good closure to a bad period."

Details of the settlement were not released, but the company's fourth-quarter earnings report included a $3.3 million, or 7-cent per share, charge for costs associated with the settlement. The company had previously accrued $3.5 million before taxes in fiscal 2001 related to some of the cases.

Shares of the restaurant chain's parent company, CBRL Group Inc. (search), were up $2.29, or 7 percent, at $34.76 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

At least 42 plaintiffs, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (search), accused the Lebanon, Tenn.-based company of discrimination in federal lawsuits filed in Georgia. Black customers in 16 states also said they were subjected to racial slurs and served food taken from the trash, while Cracker Barrel management ignored or condoned such actions."

The link is where this story was still able to be sourced from 2004 so apologizes in advance:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/09/09/cracker-barrel-settles-racial-discrimination-lawsuits-for-87m/

[RKP5637]

61. Thanks for your reply and the info., wow, I had no idea. n/t

[LovingA2andMI]

63. No Problem!

[Hissyspit]

11. Sick.

Of course, Cracker Barrel got in trouble in the early 1990s for discrimination in hiring and treatment of gays.

[reACTIONary]

12. "And that is a man planning to plant pipe bombs" BINGO! (nt)

[RKP5637]

13. It's all about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. It was affecting, apparently, their customer base

of hatred.

[seabeckind]

16. American "culture"

When I was a teen our icons were Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly. Now in my advanced years it's Sarah Palin and Laura Bush.

When did unfashionable become fashionable? When did the voice and visage of america become a loud-mouthed, insulting, unkempt...

I have been to Cracker Barrel exactly 2 times and I can remember each one. After running the gauntlet of stuffed geese and other cultural craft items (usually made in some far off land) I got to eat "down-home" cooking. I don't know whose home, definitely not mine -- a mix of eastern European and Italian. And then the planned wait to pay my check, giving my wife the chance to peruse the offerings... The whole time she waited, she didn't peruse, she was whispering in my ear...get me out of here.

Reminded me of a visit to my sisters.

BTW, my second visit was because the memory of the first had faded and the only other choice at that location was a bar.

In the words of Bill Maher: "How do you boycott a place you never go?"

[seabeckind]

19. Addendum

That goes for walmart also.

There's one a mile from our home and I suggested to my wife that we might find a couple of our harder-to-find gifts there and I would endure the agony for her.

Walked in headed for the toy section, looking for the higher end Lego architectural items. As if. The toys seemed to have a common theme...violence and tackiness.

We did B&N instead.

[RKP5637]

35. Those, are gross places, yes, B&N is definitely far better. n/t

[Brigid]

47. I have the Lego.Empire State Building and Willis Tower.

I may try the Sydney Opera House next. Yes, I get them at B & N. The nearest Wal-Mart is a long and unpleasant bus ride away, so avoiding it is no sacrifice.

[Demo_Chris]

17. If you need evidence of a souless corporation look no further...

They didn't pull the Duck products because the guy made racists and homophobic comments, they are apparently totally fine with that. No, they pulled them because some customers were offended. Then, when they got more calls from those who were offended the products were pulled, they put them back in. Thus ensuring that they irritated everyone while demonstrating that they really do stand for nothing.

[QuestForSense]

25. It's not hard to offend a cracker, just easier to whore after your base.

[seattledo]

59. Really? Did you just use that word?

I respect your bravery.

[seabeckind]

20. TLC also -- a trend to tackiness n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

21. This is why

Bill Maher should never again have calls to boot him off the air for any reason.

And why Martin Bashir and Keith Olbermann both need to be offered jobs at MSNBC again.

It's just business. I've not turned on MSNBC since they let go of Mr. Bashir and I will not ever again. I'm done with them muzzling people that f.f.s. - tell the truth.

[MynameisBlarney]

23. I stopped watching MSNBC...hell, stopped watchin TV

after Olbermann was canned.

[SoapBox]

37. Funny...that's about the time I stopped watching MSNBC.

[LovingA2andMI]

58. To be Completely Honest

MSNBC Sucks!

[MynameisBlarney]

22. Aw man...

Boycotting them is gonna hurt.
They're the only place within hundreds of miles to get anything even remotely resembling Southern Cuisine.

But...if they are going to support this racist homophobe....then I can't support them.

[yellowcanine]

38. "only place within hundreds of miles to get anything even remotely resembling Southern Cuisine."

But you forgot the smiley.

[MynameisBlarney]

48. I wasn't being sarcastic

I live in Florida Keys.
They didn't even know what grits were until a few years ago.

[yellowcanine]

50. It's the "cuisine" part that needs the sarcasm alert.

[MynameisBlarney]

53. Really?

I suppose you have a clever name for it.
Well, let's have it.

[yellowcanine]

55. Nothing clever - let's just say I don't enjoy eating there.

Not just the less than memorable food - but also the fake "country" junk you have to negotiate to even get to the food.

[MynameisBlarney]

56. Great.

I grew up in the South, and the food is comparable to what I was fed as I was growing up, it's not fancy-schmancy food. It was food made by poor people out of what they had available to them, kinda like poor people throughout time have done all over the world.

And the neat stuff on the walls reminds me of my grandpa's old barn. Though I agree, the useless crap near the checkout is...well, useless crap. Those rocking chairs though....those are very well made.

I will have to get my Southern Cuisine and nostalgia fix elsewhere now though.

[yellowcanine]

62. The place isn't all bad - but with so many other choices.....

I choose to spend my money elsewhere. And if I want down home food - well, I would rather get it at the church potluck.

[MynameisBlarney]

71. I would rather avoid church altogether, lol

I will have to make my own comfort food I reckon.

[demwing]

24. Hard to boycott a product I never buy

Each of the three times I've been to CB it's been the same: overpriced food delivered in too small portions, and with a healthy side of crappy service.

[packman]

26. Publix had/has a Display

facing the check-out aisles and I complained to the assistant manager. I enjoy shopping at Publix, the prices are a bit higher, but the store is bright, clean, well stocked and the clerks are courteous. In general, its atmosphere bespeaks quality. So, I was taken aback to see the DD display with their camo suits and beards and felt the store was betraying some sort of trust I had given it. Anyway, I told the assistant manager I found the display offensive and insulting. She told me , she'd pass on my concern to the manager. Holding my breath, I really do not want to shop at the only alternatives in this town.

[MynameisBlarney]

57. Publix is a great grocery store.

Ingles is far far superior though.
Unfortunately, there won't be any of those here in South Florida anytime soon.

[Capt. Obvious]

28. How is this feeding people, creating jobs, etc?

[SoapBox]

33. Ahhh yes...Crapper Barrel must be love'n this.

They can stand proud supporting such HATE.

[yellowcanine]

34. Why would anyone go to CB anyway?

Not to eat - the food is nothing special and you are forced to meander through a bunch of imported fake and precious cutesy "GAWD and COUNTRY" inspired souvenirs.

[PatrynXX]

36. to irritate who?

well lets see the normally piss off the left now the pissed off the right. I expect even with this.... they'll be in the red in a few months Red friday??

[Jesus Malverde]

39. Whats a masters degree holding yuppie millionaire...doing in an unfinished shack...

Pretending...

[albino65]

40. They are doing the right thing

I am counting on places like Cracker Barrel and Waffle House to kill off the red neck R/W'ers with their cholesterol clogging slop.

[randr]

41. Really, this is a surprise?

I was surprised that they made any comment at all.
The irony of the brand name just occurred to me. LOL

[Brigid]

42. Just because they put that stuff on their shelves . . .

Last edited Mon Dec 23, 2013, 02:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Doesn't mean anybody has to buy it. And nobody has ti go into CB at all if they don't want to. As for that stupid show, seems to me the best way to complain is to just not watch it. Saves a lot of time, energy, and aggravation.

[mitty14u2]

43. It was Wrong for the Right to Jump on the Dixie Chics

It was Wrong for the Right to Jump on the Dixie Chics feeding hatred of opinions, its also wrong to Jump on this old fart, ending the TV show for voicing his Opinion. If you agree or disagree, his freedom of speech has enlightened people either to watch his show or eat at Cracker Barrel, at least being a hypocrite will not be on my résumé. Opinions can change but feeding more hate is not going to help change, no matter whom is doing the hating.

[yellowcanine]

52. This is not a free speech issue and he was not expressing a political opinion (as were the Dixie

Chicks) There is no comparison. He was expressing himself in a vile crude way, not only against gays, but also objectifying women, essentially reducing women to genitalia. He has the right to do that, he doesn't have the right to have a media platform for it. It is not hatred or wrong to "jump on the old fart." This was also not a one time thing - he has a history of saying crude things, including that "men should marry 15 or 16 year old girls" because "they will pick your ducks and by the time they are 20 the only thing they will pick is your pocket" In a civil society, it is not hypocritical to object when some ignorant bible thumper spews vile and objectifies women as only useful for how they can serve a man.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-five-jawdropping-moments-from-his-sermons-20131220,0,4783746.story#axzz2oJrRDUBK

[SpectorGrowl]

67. It certainly is a free speech issue.

Your argument is that the "vileness" and "crudeness" of his words is the primary differential in determining the degree of freedom to which he is allowed to speak his mind. So, it's a safe conclusion that censorship is a cause you believe in -- as long as it's only the "bad people" people dribbling out their yellow yawp. Not how free speech works. You can object all you want you, but you can't claim a moral high-ground when you begin to subjectively proclaim which types of speech are eligible for which platforms.

Firstly, it's hypocritical. Secondly, you deny the rest of society the right to make up their mind regarding the speech in question. As a corollary, you're making an assumption that we don't have moral compasses to inform us that whatever shit that Duck Fucker said is profoundly disgusting. That assumption pisses me off and is arguable more offensive and harmful than what was said. You act as a Puritan gatekeeper, wagging your blue-blooded finger at the masses, in some self-imagined sinecure determining what is and isn't permissible for people to hear. Utter. Bullshit.

If Duck Fucker wants to preach his gospel of stupidity and nonsense, I have no problems with it. My moral compass will reflexively reject his message, but you forget the import of allowing these people to show their true colors. If a man is truly, in your estimation, such a vile and crude creature, are you not doing a public service by letting the public see the monster you yourself see?

Even as a yellow canine, I guess you're just a dog that don't hunt.

[yellowcanine]

68. Nope I did not say he didn't the right to say whatever - I said he does not have the right to have a

media platform to do it. There is a difference. The only constitutional issue is whether the media company has the right to decide who is associated with their TV show - of course they do. And I suspect they have a clause in their contract that says so.

[Gothmog]

46. I dislike this chain but was going to give them another chance

I have never liked this chain. The service is slow and the food is not that great. I was planning on giving the chain another chance due to their actions. Now, I can go back to ignoring this chain

[seabeckind]

49. This whole "culture" movement

is Poe's law gone horribly, horribly wrong.

The whole movement has played so much to the ignorance of so many people who believe the backward way of life is the new norm.

Education and the educated are ridiculed.

Followed on the heels of those who thought racism was acceptable because All in the Family was popular. Never realizing that it was a parody.

Lord help us.

[yellowcanine]

54. Having that crap on the shelves in the first place, along with all the other plastic "country" junk

and the lousy food is good enough reason for me to stay away. And they make you walk through the crap to get to the food. Once was enough.

[olddad56]

64. The "cracker" barrel. Sounds like the appropriate place for the Duck Dynasty's stuff.

[mitty14u2]

66. “Free speech” hypocrites: Dixie Chicks, “Duck Dynasty” and America’s pointless shell arguments

In March of 2003, the drumbeat for war in Iraq had reached a fevered pitch. Despite massive protests throughout the world, over 70 percent of Americans supported the invasion. In that month, presidential approval also shot over 70 percent, the highest it would be for the remainder of George W. Bush’s tenure in office. Despite these currents, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks spoke out during a London show on the eve of the war, saying “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.”

When media reports about the concert got back to the United States, all hell broke loose. Their record sales plummeted, they fell down the Billboard charts and a full scale boycott swept through their largely right-wing country music fan base. Country radio stations across the U.S. pulled them from circulation, with radio network giant Cumulus banning the Dixie Chicks from its more than 250 local stations. Former fans gathered to burn previously-purchased CDs and even, in one media spectacle, crush them with a giant farm tractor.

Unsurprisingly, conservatives welcomed this effort to economically discipline political speech. President Bush himself said of the debacle: “The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. They can say what they want to say … they shouldn’t have their feelings hurt just because some people don’t want to buy their records when they speak out. … Freedom is a two-way street. ” For Bush and other conservative cheerleaders of the war, you can speak your mind all you want, but you should be subject to private economic disciplining if you say something unpopular. That’s just the dialectic of freedom working itself out.

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/23/free_speech_hypocrites_dixie_chicks_duck_dynasty_and_americas_pointless_shell_arguments/

This is like Sarah Palin talking, who gives a damn what she says.

[yurbud]

69. with a name like CRACKER BARREL, what do you expect?

[Marthe48]

72. Boycott 'em all

Let God sort them out

My husband once said I needed a list of what I was boycotting when I went shopping more than I needed a shopping list. Now, the only things I regularly buy new are cleaning supplies and food. If we eat out, we eat at local restaurants, except Subway.

[Orsino]

73. "When you think ignorant, fake and hateful, think Cracker Barrel." n/t