Welcome Back, Uncle Herschel.

Well, whaddya know. Uncle Herschel is back.

He was unceremoniously dumped from the beloved Cracker Barrel logo a week ago and replaced by soulless Clip Art signage.

Question is, which was cringier:

Cracker Barrel’s sort-of apology on Monday that said the roll-out of the rebranding that turned the folksy dining rooms into sterile IKEA-like restaurants and killed off a beloved old man could have been handled better?

Or Tuesday’s announcement that the company was going back to the old-timey logo that had been on every Cracker Barrel since 1977, complete with a resuscitated Uncle Herschel.

By the way, Herschel was the uncle of Cracker Barrel founder Dan Evins. But the new Cracker Barrel female CEO and the all-girl marketing and engagement team carelessly put him out to pasture.

The backlash was so great that the company was forced to do an about-face yesterday.

“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have,” the company said Tuesday in a statement. “Our new logo is going away and our ‘old timer’ will remain.” 

The shares rose as much as 8.6% in extended New York trading Tuesday.

The move came just hours after President Donald Trump took to social media to offer business advice to the struggling company.

"Cracker Barrel should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before," Trump wrote. "They got a Billion Dollars worth of free publicity if they play their cards right. Very tricky to do, but a great opportunity. Have a major News Conference today. Make Cracker Barrel a WINNER again."

The president not only has time to negotiate peace treaties, try to curb crime in Washington DC and rid the country of illegals, but this Wharton School grad also found a few minutes to offer sage business advice to a foundering American company.

Question is, will Cracker Barrel’s CEO Julie Felss Masino - formerly of Taco Bell -  be sacked? 

She should be .

This debacle happened on her watch. After all she went on “Good Morning America” and gaslighted the audience. Masino claimed the reaction to the rebranding was “overwhelmingly positive.”

"People like what we're doing," Masino declared. "Cracker Barrel needs to feel like the Cracker Barrel for today and for tomorrow -- the things that you love are still there. We need people to choose us, and we want people to choose us."

"The buzz is so good, not only from our customers, but from our team," she added.

If the buzz was so good, why did the stock tank last week? The company lost about $143 million in capital after last Thursday’s announcement.

If the buzz was good the company wouldn’t have ditched the overhaul.

Lord knows how much money the corporation blew on this disastrous rebrand. And remember, everyone on this team of marketing losers thought it was a terrific idea. They should all be cleaning out their offices.

According to The Hill this major marketing fail was months in the making:

“Cracker Barrel Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Moore said she was excited for the “refresh” in March while noting the goal was to revitalize a brand that “resonates with loyal guests while welcoming new ones to our table.

“The PR firms Prophet, Viral Nation and Blue Engine each played a role in the logo relaunch to provide new messaging on social platforms, renew menus and restructure 20 restaurants.”

It took THREE public relations to engineer this disaster?

This is what happens when companies don’t know their customers. Folks come to Cracker Barrel for the Southern cooking and the old-fashioned ambiance. 

They liked the farm implements on the walls. They liked the peg board games. They loved Uncle Herschel.

My most vivid memory of a Cracker Barrel was several years ago in Georgia when I saw an elderly black couple hold hands, bow their heads and whisper a blessing before putting their napkins in their laps and picking up their utensils.

It was a sweet moment. Classic Cracker Barrel.

Cracker Barrel earnings were stagnant recently. The rebrand was designed to lure more customers. Yet it backfired because the team leading the company has no respect for its patrons.

If Cracker Barrel really wanted to energize its customers it should have offered free desserts on Sundays to any family who came to the restaurant with that day’s church bulletin. Or given a free appetizer to anyone wearing overalls. Or awarded a scoop of ice cream to any grandchild accompanied by a grandparent. (That would be a way to create brand loyalty in a whole new generation of Cracker Barrel customers.)

But scrapping Herschel and painting the dining areas surgical-suite white? 

Big mistake. Huge. The top tier of this beloved company should be sacked.