Cracker Barrel has lost one of its board members responsible for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
After a marketing disaster involving a change to its iconic logo and unique in-store designs, the company quickly apologized and reverted back to its original look. It has since looked to regain consumer trust and is finally making moves in its boardroom.
‘Gilbert helped oversee the formation of our strategic plan.’
Now, an independent director and board member who shouldered at least some of the blame for the rebrand is stepping down.
Cracker Barrel announced Gilbert Dávila’s resignation on Thursday morning, following a shareholder vote on the company’s board of directors. Shareholders elected nine of the company’s 10 recommended director nominees, including CEO Julie Masino, who has taken the brunt of the public bashing for the marketing failure.
Cracker Barrel thanked Dávila for being a valued member of the board during his five years.
The company added, “Over that time, Gilbert helped oversee the formation of our strategic plan and led our Compensation Committee with skill and dedication. We are grateful for his many contributions.”
RELATED: Cracker Barrel desperately rewrites ‘inclusion’ and DEI web page after backlash
Just a couple weeks earlier, two of Cracker Barrel’s largest proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, were reportedly pressuring shareholders to drop Dávila over his role in the marketing fiasco that tarnished the company’s public image.
“Dávila is highlighted in board materials as one of two marketing specialists among the independent directors. He is also a member of a standing board committee whose purview is to assess social and political risks to the company’s business,” ISS said, the New York Post reported.
At the same time, the group reportedly said that while removing CEO Masino would create too much chaos, her responsibility for the botched logo “is no less than Dávila’s.”
Both ISS and Glass Lewis agreed, however, that change was sorely needed at the company, adding that Dávila’s marketing expertise was “faulty.”
In a recent interview, Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck pressed Masino and company senior vice president of store operations Doug Hisel about DEI and other woke marketing strategies, demanding to know: “Had the company embraced DEI as a culture?”
“Don’t preach to me on that,” he added, speaking for many consumers tired of political messaging from major corporations.
“I’m here to eat your meal. Can we just not have that thrown in our face?”
RELATED: Exclusive interview TOMORROW: Cracker Barrel CEO answers Glenn Beck’s brutal question — ‘Why weren’t you fired?’
Under Dávila’s watch, Cracker Barrel’s diversity-laden marketing initiatives had spiraled out of control, with the company webpage dedicated to values frequently changing.
In fact, Cracker Barrel’s “culture and belonging” page has shifted gears so many times that internet archivists saved dozens of changes over the last two years alone.
The page had previously been labeled “culture and inclusion” and mentioned terms like “unconscious bias,” a form of inadvertent, subliminal racism allegedly exhibited by all.
Back in 2024, the page was called “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging” at Cracker Barrel. It celebrated “Diversity in Our Decor,” “Diversity in Our Leadership & Development,” and even spoke of achievements on the Human Rights Campaign “equality index.”
It additionally included mention of company programs like “Be Bold,” a mission to develop “black leaders”; the “LGBTQ+ Alliance,” which had the purpose of “strengthening Cracker Barrel’s relationship to the LGBTQ+ community”; and “HOLA,” a program to “promote Hispanic and Latino culture through hiring, developing, and retaining talent within Cracker Barrel.”
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