Seafood Chain Plays Chicken

The recent firestorm that the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain encountered in changing its logo and store design didn’t deter Long John Silver’s from unveiling a massive brand shift of its own. To wit: the brand best-known for hand-battered fish and golden shrimp has just revealed a redesigned logo that zaps its signature fish illustration in favor of a stylized chicken, accompanied by a new “CHICKEN + SEAFOOD” lock-up.

“Guests have been telling us for years that our chicken is a best-kept secret,” said Christopher Caudill, Long John Silver’s SVP of Marketing and Innovation. “Our hand-battered chicken strips—known as Chicken Planks—are every bit as crave-worthy as our legendary fish. It’s time we let that secret out.”

Thus far, the change hasn’t sparked anywhere near the debate that the Cracker Barrel’s remake did – which ultimately caused the chain to do an about-face on both the logo redo and store makeovers. But Long John Silver’s did get a thumbs down in a blog by Ray Graber, a senior reporter at WATTPoultry, a trade publication/website that covers chicken foodservice news. He described the rebrand as “audacious, risky and ill-advised.”

“Obviously as someone who covers the chicken industry, I want as many restaurants to succeed at selling chicken as possible,” Graber wrote. “But as a consumer, I don’t want to see a brand that I’ve enjoyed for as long as I can remember abandon their fans or financially suffer.

“Maybe Long John Silver’s isn’t as relevant as it once was, but there are other ways to shake things up. With the chicken sandwich wars, battles between who has the best wings and tenders, and chicken’s overall good taste, affordability and versatility, the competition for the chicken consumer is crowded and an unlikely place for Long John Silver’s to rise to the top.”

His conclusion: “Not all rebranding efforts and public relations efforts are successful. Cracker Barrel is an example of that. Time will tell if Long John Silver’s will also be an example, but I don’t mind going out on a limb and saying that I don’t like this change.”