It’s not that often you hear about a store putting a product back on the shelves after it had originally been pulled, but that’s exactly what happened today.
“Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores,” Cracker Barrel announced on Sunday.
The restaurant chain apologized to its many fans through Facebook and Twitter for pulling all of the ‘selected’ Duck Dynasty and Duck Commander products after the show’s patriarch, Phil Robertson, made some controversial anti-gay statements during an interview with GQ earlier this month.
The southern-style store and restaurant apologized for removing the items in the first place, as well as the offense that the removal caused for many of its loyal customers.
We made a mistake, we listened to you, and we apologize. #DuckDynasty products are back in our stores. http://t.co/QDDhxCtjpq
— Cracker Barrel (@CrackerBarrel) December 22, 2013
“Our intent was to avoid offending,” the restaurant’s official Facebook page announced, “but that’s just what we’ve done.”
“You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong.”
Customers and regulars of the restaurant from all over the country are reacting to the announcement with positive feedback. Nearly 30,000 Cracker Barrel fans ‘liked’ the apology on Facebook, and contributed comments like “That’s the best thing I have heard all day. Thank u,” and “I don’t give a rip about Duck Dynasty, but I am definitely impressed by a corporation that can simply admit a mistake. Very refreshing. If only our president could follow your example.”
The ‘selected’ items, which were only the ones featuring Phil, were removed in order to avoid offending some Cracker Barrel patrons.
The media has been aflutter during the past week over the remarks, and the points of view he expressed in the interview got Robertson suspended from the show. The suspension may have been an attempt to save face for A&E, and might have been just for show, but it remains unclear whether or not he will return to the show again for good after his suspension is lifted.
