Cracker Barrel shareholders voted Thursday to remove board member and DEI marketing executive Gilbert Dávila after a months-long uproar over the company’s logo redesign.
The vote marks the biggest shake-up since the chain’s rebrand sparked a national backlash, sent sales plunging, and wiped out hundreds of millions of dollars in value.
Despite the turmoil, shareholders chose to keep CEO Julie Felss Masino on the board, leaving Dávila as the only leader forced out.
The crisis began in August when Cracker Barrel replaced its well-known “Old Timer” logo with a simpler design that removed the familiar “Uncle Herschel” figure.
Masino defended the change as a way to make the sign easier to see from highways, saying, “Part of this transformation is setting up success for the long term.”
But the reaction was swift. Loyal customers, especially conservative diners who make up the chain’s core base, accused the company of abandoning its roots.
According to the NY Post, even President Donald Trump weighed in, urging Cracker Barrel to “go back to the old logo” and “admit a mistake.”
As anger spread, store traffic dropped by 8% in the weeks after the rollout. Shares fell 10% in a single day and kept dropping, eventually losing more than half their value.
Many diners ditched the chain altogether, moving Cracker Barrel from one of the fastest-growing breakfast brands to the bottom of the list.
🚨 BREAKING: Cracker Barrel just OUSTED its “woke” board member after massive shareholder backlash.
DEI marketing executive Gilbert Dávila was singled out for his role in Cracker Barrel’s disastrous, tone-deaf rebrand. The message is clear: Customers are done with companies that… pic.twitter.com/c5AeYzaSQA
— Woke War Room (@WokeWarRoom) November 21, 2025
Cracker Barrel Cuts Board After Shareholder Revolt
The backlash opened the door for activist investor Sardar Biglari, who pushed for shareholders to fire both Masino and Dávila.
Biglari accused the board of “years of mismanagement” and said the rebrand was the final sign that leadership was out of touch with its customers.
His firm argued, “Cracker Barrel’s share price continues to decline,” and called for a new CEO with turnaround experience.
When the votes were counted, however, only Dávila was ousted. Two powerful advisory firms, ISS and Glass Lewis, had recommended voting against him because of the board’s handling of the logo change.
Dávila resigned immediately, and the company shrank its board to nine members, FoxBusiness reported.
Cracker Barrel thanked him for his five years of service but gave no sign it would revisit the rebrand again.
Masino, who survived the vote, now faces the challenge of winning back customers and stabilizing sales.
She has already walked back the logo rollout and promised to “lean into Uncle Herschel and the nostalgia around the brand.”
But critics say the damage isn’t fixed, and the stock continued falling nearly 5% on Thursday.
Originally published on vcpost.com
