Symbols matter. Just ask Cracker Barrel.

One day you’re playing peg solitaire and selling catfish.

A logo redesign later and you’ve lost $100 million in shareholder value. That doesn’t count the renovated restaurants that need to be re-renovated.

By removing the cracker and the barrel from the Cracker Barrel logo, the company attempted a break from history. It didn’t go well.

Yet Massachusetts is determined to follow Cracker Barrel’s route, replacing its glorious, history-laden flag. 4

Market share can be regained. Bad quarters can be papered over by good ones. CEOs and marketing teams can be replaced.

But once history’s slate is wiped clean, that’s it.

This is not Mississippi removing the Confederacy’s final vestige from its state flag in 2021.

This is a break from the very b

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