If you swear that the Berenstain Bears books are spelled “Berenstein” or recall Pikachu having a black-tipped tail, you’re in good company, even though neither is true. You’re not losing your mind — instead, you’re among the many people who’ve experienced the Mandela effect. In other words, you have a distinct memory of something, like Mickey Mouse without a tail, but it turns out to be a false memory. (He does have a tail — after all, he’s a mouse!)
The Mandela effect often involves a false memory many of us share, which makes it particularly buzzy. Recently, some TikTok users have even started to describe the phenomenon as feeling like they’ve shifted timelines where events, products and pop-culture references have all been affected — but, importantly, these are just conspiracy theories (more on that below).
I spoke with Wilma Bainbridge, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, to find out why people have false memories and where the Mandela effect came from. I’ve also added several more examples of the Mandela effect below so you can put your memory to the test.
What is the Mandela effect?
“The Mandela Effect is a pervasive false memory where people are very confident about a memory they have that’s incorrect,” Bainbridge tells Yahoo. It’s often associated with pop culture. In reality, people have seen the correct version of the product or reference in question, but many have the same wrong memory of how it looks or is spelled.
“The Mandela effect is so striking and popular because we have a shared creepy, weird feeling because what you thought was reality isn’t actually the case,” she says.
What’s the history behind the Mandela effect?
The term was coined in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome, who wrongly recalled that former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s, Bainbridge notes. Broome discovered the truth during a conference where others had the same “memory.” (Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and died in 2013.)
Why does it happen?
“This is still an open question,” Bainbridge says. “We’ve tried to pinpoint several explanations but there’s no one good explanation.” She notes that, in general, people have a schema for how things should look in the world and filter their memories through that lens.
Let’s look at Mr. Monopoly, mascot of the famous board game. If you think of a rich man from the early 1900s, you might envision him with a monocle or pocket watch even though Mr. Monopoly has neither. But we imagine he does because he’s portrayed as a rich character — and, of course, he does wear a tuxedo and a top hat.
Bainbridge conducted an experiment that included participants who had never heard of Mr. Monopoly. They participants saw the correct image of the Monopoly character — sans monocle — and after a brief delay, they were asked to draw the character they just saw. Many times, the participants drew him wearing a monocle.
“This shows false memory is happening pretty rapidly,” Bainbridge explains. “It doesn’t take long to forget specifics of an image and add details that you think you saw.”
Even people who are more familiar with certain icons and characters can make mistakes. For instance, some Pokemon fans remember Pikachu having a black-tipped tail even though it’s completely yellow. (They could be confusing his tail with his black-tipped ears.)
Popular examples of the Mandela effect
Here are some Mandela effect examples that have confused me over the years — and many others too. Grab your friends and see which false memories you may share.
1. Shazaam
Fake: A Shazaam movie starring Sinbad as a genie.
Reality: No such movie exists, but there is a movie called Kazaam where Shaquille O’Neal plays a genie.
2. Fruit of the Loom
Fake: The Fruit of the Loom logo has a cornucopia.
Reality: There’s never been a cornucopia in the underwear brand’s logo.
3. Febreze
Fake: Febreeze
Reality: The air- and garment-freshener is Febreze — there have never been double E’s in the name.
4. Chick-fil-A
Fake: Chic-fil-A
Reality: The restaurant’s name, Chick-fil-A, has always been spelled with a K.
5. Totino’s Pizza Rolls
Fake: Tostino’s pizza rolls
Reality: The brand has always been spelled Totino’s, without the first S.
6. Snow White
Fake: In Snow White, the evil queen says, “Mirror, mirror on the wall.”
Reality: She really says, “Magic mirror on the wall.”
7. Stove Top stuffing
Fake: Stove Top stuffing is made by Stouffer’s.
Reality: The stuffing is made by Kraft Heinz.
8. Looney Tunes
Fake: Looney Toons, with “toons” spelled like “cartoons.”
Reality: Looney Tunes, with “tunes” spelled like music (the cartoons featured classical scores).
9. Mickey Mouse
Fake: Mickey Mouse wears suspenders in Steamboat Willy.
Reality: This is another Mickey Mouse conspiracy theory — he never wore suspenders as Steamboat Willy (or any other character).
10. Cheez-It
Fake: Cheez-Itz, Cheez-Its.
Reality: The snack has always been spelled Cheez-It.
How do conspiracy theories relate to the Mandela effect?
If you’ve been on social media in the last few years, you’ve likely heard users discussing conspiracy theories about how the Mandela effect is evidence for shifting realities or timelines. For instance, they might say we grew up in a world where Mr. Monopoly wore a monocle, and somehow we’ve shifted into a parallel dimension where he doesn’t.
Bainbridge says this relates to how much we rely on our memories, since we feel like our memories are the truth. However, she says her team’s research debunks the parallel-dimension theory because people associate something they’ve never seen with something familiar. She explains to her participants that since their false recollections occurred in such a short time frame, it’s highly unlikely that they jumped to a new dimension.
What can you do if you’re experiencing false memories?
With social media use, people are seeing false memories circulate as often as real ones, Bainbridge says, which makes it harder to test participants because these images are all over apps like TikTok and Facebook.
But if you can focus on your memory and think of why you remember it that way, you might find the connection that’s causing you to forget what you actually saw, she says. For instance, you may be associating Looney Tunes with cartoons, so you imagine the spelling as Looney Toons.
Simply learning about the Mandela effect can help because it often solves the problem of seeing false images, Bainbridge adds. So looking into the history of these theories can help you learn the truth of why you’re imagining the wrong reference or image. It may also help to ask friends and family members what they remember when it comes to a Mandela effect that’s throwing you off. (However, if they all have the same false memories, this may make it harder to believe the truth!)
Can hypnosis help retrieve real memories?
This one is tricky, Bainbridge explains, because “neuroscientists haven’t found a clear signal in the brain for when a memory is false or true.” Once your memory is saved, it looks the same on paper.
It’s hard to know what’s reality based on the brain, she says. “When you have a memory, it doesn’t stay stagnant because you’re constantly updating it, and outsiders influence how you experienced it.” For example, someone might remember different details of an event than you, and if they tell that story over and over, you might start to believe you witnessed it that way too. “People can influence memories so it feels like a real memory.”
Ultimately, because brains don’t hold a perfect record of events that happened, hypnosis might not be able to get you back to the original memory, Bainbridge says.
While experiencing the Mandela effect isn’t a mental health issue, if you feel like it’s negatively interfering with your life, you can speak with a therapist about the false memories.
