An online rumour is spreading across social media websites Facebook and Twitter asserting that popular US restaurant and gift shop chain Cracker Barrel is to change its name to Caucasian Barrel because Cracker is considered an offensive slur.
Depending where and when you first encounter this rumour, you’ll either have been told that Cracker Barrel is deciding whether to change its name, is in the process of doing so, or facing a serious online petition asking it to do so.
None of the above is true.
There is a petition on Change.org, which seems to have started the rumour mill on this, but reading between the lines, it is clearly a satirical petition (of which there have been quite a few, recently) that is not intended to be taken seriously.
Some people in the US consider the Cracker a racial slur against white people, thus the satirical article jokingly presents “Caucasian Barrel” as an alternative.
The petition on Change.org, started by a “Ryan Koch”, reads in part –
Change the name C****er Barrel to Caucasian Barrel. After all, white people should have something to be offended by, too!
Largely due to the power of social media, the Change.org petition has received plenty of views, leading to online rumours hitting the social media cycles, largely down to others not being able to recognize the petition as satirical.
So to confirm, no Cracker Barrel are not changing their name, nor is there any serious petition asking them to do so. More Internet fluff.