Cracker Barrel has accidentally been thrust into the culture wars.
The restaurant chain on Monday ignited a fiery debate on its Facebook page after encouraging its customers to “discover new meat frontiers” with its plant-based sausage offering.
“Experience the out of this world flavor of Impossible™ Sausage Made From Plants next time you Build Your Own Breakfast,” Cracker Barrel wrote in its post, which features an image of eggs, hashbrowns and two patties with a toothpick labeled “Impossible™” planted in them.
Thousands of people have since commented on the post—sharing a mix of outrage, amusement over the outrage and general thoughts on how the controversy reflects the state of the world. The comments have showcased a divide among customers across ideological and political lines.
“Oh Noes… the Cracker Barrel has gone WOKE!!!” one Facebook commenter wrote. “It really is the end times…”
“All the more reason to stop eating at Cracker Barrel,” another commenter wrote. “This is not what Cracker Barrel was to be all about.”
Some who criticized the Impossible Sausage haters blasted them for their political leanings.
“Imagine getting upset because a menu option exists at a restaurant. Chill out, Trumpers,” wrote one Facebook commenter.
The term “snowflake,” which Urban Dictionary defines as “a very sensitive person” or “someone who is easily hurt or offended by the statements or actions of others was tossed around by many,” was used often in comments (sometimes ironically).
Those who had less political reactions simply shared their food preferences.
“I’m not a rabbit,” wrote one Facebook user. “I love meat! Lettuce is as far as I’ll go.”
“Plant-based is the future!” wrote another person, adding a green heart emoji. “everyone stop eating carcass and eat plants.”
When asked about the online outrage sparked by the Facebook post, a spokesperson for Cracker Barrel told NBC News: “We appreciate the love our fans have for our all-day breakfast menu. At Cracker Barrel, we’re always exploring opportunities to expand how our guests experience breakfast and provide choices to satisfy every taste bud — whether people want to stick with traditional favorites like bacon and sausage or are hungry for a new, nutritious plant-based option like Impossible Sausage.”
Meanwhile, some commenters had no opinion on the Cracker Barrel menu item itself, but had a lot to say about the fuss being made over it.
“This comment section is further proof we need to focus more on mental health in this country and get more people into therapy for anger issues,” one Facebook user wrote.
“I often wonder if Mark [Zuckerberg] envisioned that his little project to rate girls on the internet would turn into a forum for thousands of old people to yell at Cracker Barrel for adding a menu item they didn’t want,” added another user, referring to Facebook’s origins and founder. ” Absolutely wild.”
As of early Thursday morning, the post had been commented on more than 5,600 times, and garnered more than 3,400 reactions, including likes, loves and “haha.”
www.nbcnews.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism