My favorite restaurant of all time is NOT the Cracker Barrel. In fact, Cracker Barrel might just be my least favorite place to eat.
Why?
It’s nothing but comfort food that is anything but.
Everything is fried. If they could fry water, it would be served to you.
The décor is abhorrent. The gift shop is a tourist trap. The wait for a table is endless. The service is incredibly slow. And the food is awful.
In fact, I have renamed the Cracker Barrel. It’s now either the Crapper Barrel, or, practicing my Spanish, the Ca Ca Barrel.
But if you ask my mom and my father-in-law, they will say I’m crazy. They love the Ca Ca Barrel. It’s their favorite place. If we offer to take them anywhere out to eat, they always opt for the Ca Ca. Enthusiastically.
Apparently, I’m not in the minority around my feelings for the Ca Ca Barrel. In fact, the company is worried about a drop in customer visits. Why?
The demographic that loves the Ca Ca Barrel is aging out. The décor is probably nostalgic for my 88-year-old mom and 86-year-old father-in-law. They may have actually seen and used a real washboard and a clothesline in their youth.
But I didn’t.
I grew up with indoor plumbing, electric washer and dryer, television, and all other modern conveniences. There is no nostalgia for me. It’s like eating terrible food in an antique store.
The Ca Ca barrel is perfect for that older audience.
What happens when it no longer exists?
Does Ca Ca Barrel update to 1980s décor? I’d be more nostalgic about that. But my kids would hate it.
There is a shelf life for everything. The Ca Ca Barrel is nearing the end of its.
I have been criticized for a long time about the old video clips I use in my workshops. They are from Seinfeld, the Rockymovies, several other movies from the 1980s and 1990s, and a few old commercials. There are also clips from older shows as well.
The thing is, they weren’t that old when I started using them in 2004. They were relevant. And I was comfortable using them. As time went on, I justified using them because the point of a video clip is not entertainment, it’s to reinforce learning.
It’s not working.
Then I thought about it.
The clips I’m using are anywhere from 10 – 70 years old. Let’s put that into perspective:
When I was 12, “old” TV was Gilligan’s Island, The Munsters, Batman, and the Looney Tunes cartoons. At the time, Gilligan’s Island and The Munsters were only about 11 years old. It seemed old, but not that old.
Real “old” TV was much older. Think The Twilight Zone, The Three Stooges, and I Love Lucy. Those came out in the 1950s and earlier. Now THAT seemed like old TV. So old that local channels would run a Twilight Zone marathon on TV over Thanksgiving Weekend. I taped it one year. On a VHS player.
These days, I’m using two clips from the “Real Old” category. A clip from I Love Lucy (in the chocolate factory) and The Twilight Zone (McNulty). And that’s along with the other old clips.
That is the equivalent of showing clips now from 1995, which was just about 30 years ago. Top shows from that period were:
- Seinfeld
- Frasier
- Friends
- ER
- NYPD Blue
- Coach
- The Nanny
- Rosanne
- Murphy Brown
- Walker Texas Ranger
- Chicago Hope
- Third Rock from the Sun
Now THAT is some OLD TV! If I was to use clips from that, people would complain. And I use clips for the most part that are that age and older.
I think I’ve answered my own question. My video clips, charming as I think they might be, are simply old, stale, and outdated.
The challenge is that time sneaks up on us. I remember watching those video clips in my early workshops in the early 2000s and audiences loved them. It was unique. Nobody else was using video clips.
But, just as in the case of The Ca Ca Barrel, what was once charming is now irrelevant.
I know what I have to do. Ditch the clips and maximize what I do best: storytelling.
The Ca Ca Barrel either needs to change or close. Neither is likely. But I won’t be back. My kids will never have to say, “Dad and that f****** Cracker Barrel!!! Why does he always have to eat there?”
What about you? Have you taken the time to do a quick relevance check on you and what you do?
Keep in mind: We are always the last to know.
I’m going to preemptively change. What about you?