Cracker Barrel’s marketing fiasco shows investors are making woke a massive risk factor

New York Post ^ | Aug. 23, 2025 | Charles Gasparino

[MinorityRepublican]

If the Cracker Barrel market puke has anything to teach Wall Street, it’s that investors who are deciding where to put their money must add corporate “wokeness” to their menu of risks to ­digest.

In fact, making “woke” an investing risk factor — in some cases as important as the direction of interest rates and inflation — seems so obvious that I hesitated to write this column. Recall Bud Light’s ­Dylan Mulvaney fiasco, or Target CEO Brian Cornell’s recent exit following his ill-fated ­obsession with DEI.

Wokeness is generally defined as subjecting the culture and business to left-wing dogma involving race, sex and viewing all things Americana as anathema. It simply doesn’t sell to mass audiences.

And yet companies keep going there. Corporate managers, it turns out, are a politically and socially tone-deaf bunch. They are lousy at reading the current mood of the country and its hatred of progressive indoctrination — whether in the classroom or when they simply want to enjoy a beer. Their advisers may be even worse.

That’s why shareholders must demand — whether it’s at annual meetings, on earnings calls or with testy phone calls to Investor Relations — that the C-suite extricate wokeness from corporate decision-making.

While it’s not mainstream, there are some savvy Wall Street types adding “woke risk” to their models, just not using that exact terminology.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: butitwasntwoke; transgender; woke; wokeism; wokerisk

[Cold Heart]

The business was under performing and this is just a quick kill operation.

[Alberta's Child]

To be fair, CB was not doing well financially even before this recent nonsense. They may simply be facing a long term decline due to demographics, with their core customer base aging out of the marketplace.

I think many of these restaurant chains are not long for the world.

[babble-on]

what was unwoke about the old sign and woke about the new sign? Just trying to catch up here.

[napscoordinator]

I’m sure they will recover.

[MinorityRepublican]

To be fair, CB was not doing well financially even before this recent nonsense.

Stagnating. Not declining.

Not bad for a chain.

Most chains are in decline due to inflation, aging demographics and yeah the quality is not what it used to be.

They have good locations for most part. You're just looking for a meal when you're traveling. And you're not going to want to stop at McDonald's.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Some have stated they think this is intentional to kill the business and then somebody (Blackrock) comes in and buys the real eatate.

Possible. Their real estate is all right along freeways and that makes it quite valuable.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

Black Rock, State Street, Vanguard, Engine No. 1, certain private equity, hedge funds along with other woke investors have a reason to buy and destroy firms.

And we know it. Just like the New York AG destroyed Whole Foods to let Amazon buy them.

Anyone who dares to challenge the establishment is being destroyed everywhere by these big name funds.

[Beowulf9]

This is it.

[RinaseaofDs]

Not at all. Gretchen can work the camera.

[Kartographer]

Go Woke, Go Broke

[EinNYC]

Is that Greta Thunberg?

[Lazamataz]

Hmmmm. What if someone had a date with Sydney, but would have to take Gretchen along, as the two are a package deal. That would be a tough decision.

I'd hit it.

Mostly.

[paudio]

I think it depends on the company’s original market. Those that have to pay the DEI cost mostly are companies who ignore their original customers and took 180°. Budlight, JC Peney, and Volvo are few examples of this group.

In the meantime, if NYT or Ben&Jerry announce even stronger DEI commitment, nothing will change.

[wardaddy]

They have lots of good mostly interstate exit dirt

[jmacusa]

Women. Most of the ‘’managers’ and ‘’department heads’’ are women.

Thank you DEI.

[wardaddy]

But they used to really cash flow great when the founders ran it and the board was local
Now it’s a woke board
Nobody from here
They are completely invested in woke
Heavily heavily
Benny had a segment on this today via Robbie Starbucks

Jack lowery older lawyer heavy in the founding has publicly been beating them up

I think he’s 90 and one of the most politically powerful men in middle tennessee

He met with the CEO to try to get her to stop this crap

She won’t listen

The irony is the founding number 3 for decades was gay but quiet

He was my wife’s boss there and she adored him

He ran food 80s till I think ten years ago

Started in the kitchen

I’m friendly with the daughter of the lead founder Evins

She’s very unhappy

We shall see

I think the Goldman Sachs and UBS level share holders will have to pressure

This board is as bad as the crazy woman running the place

Like foundations started by righties once you hand over control via going public and the camel gets its nose in

I’ve dealt with this representing my dads estate with his alumni VMI

SAME SHITE!

they infiltrate like a virus and take over

Look at ford foundation

[Political Junkie Too]

Could they admit their mistake and go back to the old way? Would the customers forgive and come back en masse

See my extensive post here.

-PJ

[SaveFerris]

I avoid Gillette

And Jaguar is
now Faguar

[SaveFerris]

LOL 😂😆😆

[EC Washington]

You win the Internet today! Great Post!