Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is the Mandela Effect?ExamplesWhy the Mandela Effect HappensThe Internet
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Table of Contents
What Is the Mandela Effect?
Examples
Why the Mandela Effect Happens
The Internet
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You know that creepy phenomenon where some people remember historic events differently than others? Like when people thought the classic kid’s book was called the “Berenstein Bears” instead of itsactualtitle, the “Berenstain Bears.” Yep, this weird event is called the Mandela Effect.
Where does the Mandela effect come from—and why do these strange perceptions of history keep happening? We have the answers to all your questions, plus famous examples of the Mandela effect, down below.
Origins of the Mandela Effect
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1:53
Click Play to Learn More About the Mandela Effect
Notable Examples of the Mandela Effect
The story of Nelson Mandela is not the only example of this type of false group memory. As the concept of the Mandela Effect grew along with Broome’s website, other group false memories began to emerge.
Henry VIII Eating a Turkey Leg
Henry VIII, sans turkey leg.Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
People had a memory that the above portrait of Henry VIII featured him eating or holding a turkey leg, though no such painting has ever existed. There have, however, been similar cartoons created. This may be related to the common knowledge of Henry VIII as a large man.
Luke, I Am Your Father
jpgfactory/Getty Images
If you saw Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back, you probably remember Darth Vader uttering the famous line, “Luke, I am your father” in the pivotal scene near the end of the film.
You might be surprised to learn, then, that the line was actually, “No, I am your father.” Most people have memories of the line being the former rather than the latter, and it is commonly quoted incorrectly.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
If you watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, you probably remember the line, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” As you can see from the above subtitled screenshot, the line actually began with the phrase “Magicmirror on the wall” instead. It probably doesn’t help matters that Julia Roberts and Lily Collins starred in a 2012live-action filmbased on Snow White called “Mirror Mirror”!
Oscar Meyer or Oscar Mayer?
Walter Bibikow/The Image Bank/Getty Images
There is some controversy over the spelling of the famous brand of hot dogs, Oscar Mayer weiners. Some people claim to remember the brand being spelled “Meyer” instead of “Mayer,” which is the correct spelling.
To be fair, the brand pronunciation is a closer match for the “Meyer” spelling, while “Mayer” is often pronounced differently, as in the musician John Mayer’s name.
Location of New Zealand
Google Maps
Where is New Zealand in relation to Australia? If you look at a map, you will see that it is southeast of the country. However, there is a community of people who claim to remember New Zealand being northeast instead of southeast.
Berenstein Bears
This is similar to the Oscar Mayer issue and hints at perhaps an underlying cognitive reason for the Mandela Effect instead of parallel realities, as some people believe.
Shazaam, Starring Sinbad?
Adam Bettcher/Getty Images Entertainment
One of the most well-known examples of the Mandela Effect is the collective memory of a movie called “Shazaam” that starred the actor/comedian Sinbad in the 1990s.
Pikachu’s Black-Tipped Tail
nicescene/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Many people report remembering Pikachu, a Pokémon character, as having a black-tipped tail. In reality, the character has always had a solid yellow tail. The confusion or false memory may stem from the fact that Pikachu, as you can see,doeshave black-tipped ears.
Mickey Mouse’s Suspenders
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Mickey Mouse might be the most famous cartoon character in the world, but even Disney’s famous mouse is often misremembered in the minds of fans. People often report the character wearing suspenders when he does not. The original Mickey is wearing shorts, but is completely unclothed on the top half of his body—how scandalous.
Sally Field’s Famous Oscar Speech
ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images
When Sally Field won an Oscar in 1985, her acceptance speech included the oft-repeated, oft-parodied line “You like me, you really like me!” Except, what she actually said was “I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me.”
Children of the ’90s probably owe their false memory to Jim Carrey’s parody of the line in his filmThe Mask, when his character utters the line “You love me, you really love me” in clear homage to Field’s speech.
No, Really, It’s Not Looney Toons
Warner Bros. Entertainment
Jiffy Peanut Butter
NoDerog/Getty Images
There is Jiffy Lube, there’s Jiffy Pop popcorn, there’s Skippy peanut butter, and you may be able to whip up a PB&J in a jiffy, but no, there is no such thing as Jiffy Peanut Butter. It is and has always been Jif, though many people would swear to the contrary.
Curious George’s Tail
This one is, well, curious. The assumption is that Curious George is a monkey, and most monkeys are understood to have tails. Many remember Curious George having a tail, but alas, everyone’s favorite curious primate is in fact tailless. We hope this hasn’t caused George any kind of existential crisis.
What the Heck Is a Froot Loop?
Bloomberg/Getty Images
You can thank Kellogg’s for this entry in the weird spelling section of the Mandela effect catalog. While the very well-known cereal is supposedly fruit-flavored, they decided to lean into the loops and double up on the double O’s, opting for Froot Loops instead of Fruit Loops, much to our surprise.
Fruit of the Loom’s Logo
You may not be able to identify every piece of fruit in the logo for the clothing brand Fruit of the Loom, but everybody at least knows that there is a cornucopia behind all the fruit, right? Wrong! Just ask the company itself—there is no cornucopia, even if we all remember it.
C-3PO’s Leg Is What?
Lucasfilm
That’s right, C-3PO, the famed Star Wars droid, has a silver right leg, but we won’t blame you for getting this one wrong. Given the lower resolution of older films, the character often being shot from the waist up, and the fact that the original line of toys featured an all-gold C-3PO, it’s no surprise how surprising it is to discover he had a silver leg all along.
“Play It Again, Sam”…Or Not
“Casablanca” is one of the most famous films of all-time. And while, many decades later, more and more people have not seen it, whatisnonetheless known is the famous line “Play it again, Sam.” Unfortunately, if you are familiar with that line, you may be confused to learn that it was never actually said in that exact way in the film. Ingrid Bergman’s character does, however, say “Play it once, Sam.” Adding to the confusion may be that Woody Allen made a film in 1972 called “Play It Again, Sam” about a film critic obsessed with “Casablanca”.
It’s a Beautiful Day…Where?
PBS Kids
Hollywood contributed to the Mandela effect when the 2019 Mister Rogers biopic was named “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” a reference to the opening line of the famous song that opened every episode of Fred Rogers' show—“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.” In reality, however, the song opens with the line “It’s a beautiful day inthisneighborhood.”
Mr. Monopoly’s Monocle
Hasbro
Rich Uncle Pennybags aka Mr. Monopoly sureseemslike the type to wear a monocle. But in reality, the leading man of the board game everyone has played but nobody has ever finished can see just fine without a monocle. The leading theories are that we mistake him for the monocled Mr. Peanut. Oddly, there is yet another Jim Carrey connection as well—a scene in Ace Ventura 2 features the pet detective encountering a monocled man he refers to as “The Monopoly Guy.”
Explanations for the Mandela Effect
So why would this effect even happen? Let’s explore.
False Memories
Who was Alexander Hamilton? Most Americans learned in school that he was a founding father of the United States of America but that he was not a president. However, when asked about the presidents of the United States, many people mistakenly believe that Hamilton was a president. Why?
So when people try to recall Hamilton, thissets off the neuronsin close connection to each other, bringing with it the memory of the presidents. (Though this is an oversimplified explanation, it illustrates the general process.)
When memories are recalled, rather than remembered perfectly, they are influenced to the point that they can eventually become incorrect. In this way, memory is unreliable and not infallible.
Confabulation
Confabulationinvolves your brain filling in gaps that are missing in your memories to make more sense of them. This isn’t lying, but rather remembering details that never happened. Confabulation tends to increase with age.
Misleading Post-Event Information
Information that you learn after an event can change your memory of an event. This includes event subtle information and helps to explain whyeyewitness testimonycan be unreliable.
Priming
Primingdescribes the factors leading up to an event that affects our perception of it. Also called suggestibility and presupposition, priming is the difference between asking howshorta person is, versus howtalla person is. Saying, “Did you seetheblack car?” instead of “…ablack car?” makes a subtle suggestion that influences response and memory.
In essence, memories are vulnerable bits of information stored in the brain that can be changed over time. While we assume that our memories are accurate, this is not necessarily the case.
Alternate Realities
One theory for the basis for the Mandela effect originates from quantum physics and relates to the idea that rather than one timeline of events, alternate realities or universes may be taking place and mixing with our timeline.In theory, this would result in groups of peoplehaving the same memoriesbecause the timeline has been altered as we shift between these different realities.
You aren’t alone if you think this sounds unrealistic. Unfortunately, the idea of alternate realities is unfalsifiable, meaning there is no way to disprove that these other universes don’t exist truly.
This is why such a far-fetched theory continues to gain traction among the Mandela effect communities. You can’t prove it’s not real, so you can’t discount the possibility of it. For many people, the excitement of a bit of mystery in everyday life also likely comes into play.
RecapWhile the notion of alternate realities might appeal due to its air of mystery, many examples of the Mandela effect are likely due to some type of collective misremembering. Incorrectly recalling information is, in fact, quite common. One study found that 76% of people made some type of mistake when asked to recall information.
Recap
While the notion of alternate realities might appeal due to its air of mystery, many examples of the Mandela effect are likely due to some type of collective misremembering. Incorrectly recalling information is, in fact, quite common. One study found that 76% of people made some type of mistake when asked to recall information.
The Internet’s Impact
The role of the internet in influencing the memories of the masses should not be underestimated. It’s probably no coincidence that consideration of the Mandela effect has grown in this digital age.
The internet is a powerful way to spread information, and with this spreading of information comes the potential for misconceptions and falsehoods to gain traction. People then begin to create communities based around these falsehoods and what was once in the imagination starts to seem factual.
This notion of the speed with which false information spreads on the internet could help to explain the Mandela effect.
As each person chimes in with their own experience or memory of an event, those false memories could affect the memories of other people, thus coloring them to remember the events in the same way.
For example, Sinbad did star in other movies in the 1990s and appeared in a movie poster for the film “Houseguest” coming out of a mailbox (this looked similar to a genie, which could explain the association with the movie “Shazaam”). Sinbad also dressed up like a genie for an event that he hosted in the 1990s.
When one person mentioned this movie “Shazaam” (likely on the internet), it altered the memories of other people who tried to recall the movies that Sinbad made from the 1990s. Online communities spread this information until it appeared to be factual.
The Mandela effect continues to be hotly debated, despite reasonable evidence that it is more likely explained in terms of the fallibility of human memory than some form of parallel universes at work.
Of course, we don’t know everything. As more incidents of the Mandela effect continue to occur, perhaps more research into the origins will shed light on the causes.
What Is Memory?
7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Prasad D, Bainbridge W.The Visual Mandela Effect as evidence for shared and specific false memories across people.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nzh3sRobins SK.Confabulation and constructive memory.Synthese. 2017;196(6):2135-2151. doi:10.1007/s11229-017-1315-1Straube B.An overview of the neuro-cognitive processes involved in the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of true and false memories.Behavioral and Brain Functions. 2012;8(1):35. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-8-35Wentura D, Rothermund K.Priming is not priming is not priming.Social Cognition. 2014;32(Supplement):47-67. doi:10.1521/soco.2014.32.supp.47French A.The Mandela Effect and new memory.Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism. 2018;6(2):201-233.Diamond NB, Armson MJ, Levine B. The truth is out there: accuracy in recall of verifiable real-world events.Psychol Sci. 2020;31(12):1544-1556. doi:10.1177/0956797620954812Vosoughi S, Roy D, Aral S.The spread of true and false news online.Science. 2018;359(6380):1146-1151. doi:10.1126/science.aap9559Additional ReadingAamodt C.On shared false memories: what lies behind the Mandela effect.Brown AD, Kouri N, Hirst W.Memory’s malleability: Its role in shaping collective memory and social identity.Front Psychol. 2012;3.Cochran B.The Mandela Effect.Julu N.Top 10 Examples of the Mandela Effect That Will Leave You Scratching Your Head.Zaragoza MS, Mitchell KJ, Payment K, Drivdahl S.False memories for suggestions: The impact of conceptual elaboration.J Mem Lang. 2011;64(1):18-31.
7 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Prasad D, Bainbridge W.The Visual Mandela Effect as evidence for shared and specific false memories across people.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nzh3sRobins SK.Confabulation and constructive memory.Synthese. 2017;196(6):2135-2151. doi:10.1007/s11229-017-1315-1Straube B.An overview of the neuro-cognitive processes involved in the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of true and false memories.Behavioral and Brain Functions. 2012;8(1):35. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-8-35Wentura D, Rothermund K.Priming is not priming is not priming.Social Cognition. 2014;32(Supplement):47-67. doi:10.1521/soco.2014.32.supp.47French A.The Mandela Effect and new memory.Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism. 2018;6(2):201-233.Diamond NB, Armson MJ, Levine B. The truth is out there: accuracy in recall of verifiable real-world events.Psychol Sci. 2020;31(12):1544-1556. doi:10.1177/0956797620954812Vosoughi S, Roy D, Aral S.The spread of true and false news online.Science. 2018;359(6380):1146-1151. doi:10.1126/science.aap9559Additional ReadingAamodt C.On shared false memories: what lies behind the Mandela effect.Brown AD, Kouri N, Hirst W.Memory’s malleability: Its role in shaping collective memory and social identity.Front Psychol. 2012;3.Cochran B.The Mandela Effect.Julu N.Top 10 Examples of the Mandela Effect That Will Leave You Scratching Your Head.Zaragoza MS, Mitchell KJ, Payment K, Drivdahl S.False memories for suggestions: The impact of conceptual elaboration.J Mem Lang. 2011;64(1):18-31.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Prasad D, Bainbridge W.The Visual Mandela Effect as evidence for shared and specific false memories across people.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nzh3sRobins SK.Confabulation and constructive memory.Synthese. 2017;196(6):2135-2151. doi:10.1007/s11229-017-1315-1Straube B.An overview of the neuro-cognitive processes involved in the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of true and false memories.Behavioral and Brain Functions. 2012;8(1):35. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-8-35Wentura D, Rothermund K.Priming is not priming is not priming.Social Cognition. 2014;32(Supplement):47-67. doi:10.1521/soco.2014.32.supp.47French A.The Mandela Effect and new memory.Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism. 2018;6(2):201-233.Diamond NB, Armson MJ, Levine B. The truth is out there: accuracy in recall of verifiable real-world events.Psychol Sci. 2020;31(12):1544-1556. doi:10.1177/0956797620954812Vosoughi S, Roy D, Aral S.The spread of true and false news online.Science. 2018;359(6380):1146-1151. doi:10.1126/science.aap9559
Prasad D, Bainbridge W.The Visual Mandela Effect as evidence for shared and specific false memories across people.PsyArXiv. 2021. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nzh3s
Robins SK.Confabulation and constructive memory.Synthese. 2017;196(6):2135-2151. doi:10.1007/s11229-017-1315-1
Straube B.An overview of the neuro-cognitive processes involved in the encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of true and false memories.Behavioral and Brain Functions. 2012;8(1):35. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-8-35
Wentura D, Rothermund K.Priming is not priming is not priming.Social Cognition. 2014;32(Supplement):47-67. doi:10.1521/soco.2014.32.supp.47
French A.The Mandela Effect and new memory.Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism. 2018;6(2):201-233.
Diamond NB, Armson MJ, Levine B. The truth is out there: accuracy in recall of verifiable real-world events.Psychol Sci. 2020;31(12):1544-1556. doi:10.1177/0956797620954812
Vosoughi S, Roy D, Aral S.The spread of true and false news online.Science. 2018;359(6380):1146-1151. doi:10.1126/science.aap9559
Aamodt C.On shared false memories: what lies behind the Mandela effect.Brown AD, Kouri N, Hirst W.Memory’s malleability: Its role in shaping collective memory and social identity.Front Psychol. 2012;3.Cochran B.The Mandela Effect.Julu N.Top 10 Examples of the Mandela Effect That Will Leave You Scratching Your Head.Zaragoza MS, Mitchell KJ, Payment K, Drivdahl S.False memories for suggestions: The impact of conceptual elaboration.J Mem Lang. 2011;64(1):18-31.
Aamodt C.On shared false memories: what lies behind the Mandela effect.
Brown AD, Kouri N, Hirst W.Memory’s malleability: Its role in shaping collective memory and social identity.Front Psychol. 2012;3.
Cochran B.The Mandela Effect.
Julu N.Top 10 Examples of the Mandela Effect That Will Leave You Scratching Your Head.
Zaragoza MS, Mitchell KJ, Payment K, Drivdahl S.False memories for suggestions: The impact of conceptual elaboration.J Mem Lang. 2011;64(1):18-31.
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