To be or not to be: That is the Mandela Effect

The concept of the psychological, cultural phenomenon 'Mandela Effect' has yet to be swept under the rug; quite often, it can be the centre of discussion (sometimes without realising it is). Everyone has heard the debate about Curious George and his tail (before you ask, no, he does not). It's no secret that debate is everywhere, but how often do you hear of why these mind-messing phenomena got their name, and truly, which are the ones that make us go "I was so sure of this…" the most?

The term 'Mandela Effect' was first coined in 2010 by Fiona Broome. However, the concept has existed since (at least) the 1980s. If you were asked the question, 'When did Nelson Mandela die?' what would your answer be? Well, that depends on what you believe. The correct answer is 2013, but that is not the most popular. The concept of the Mandela Effect came from this very question; the outpour of people who genuinely believe that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s got people wondering… how? How was it possible that so many people had just… got it wrong?

Often, the plethora of Mandela Effects can be separated into two categories: film/pop culture and business. Some of the titans of pop culture are the belief that Pikachu had a black tip on his tail, which is not true (this one had me fooled). Mister Monopoly man, the expert on money and monocles… right? Wrong. Mister Monopoly man, the expert of money… with no monocle. If you were to wipe the dust off your Monopoly board, you'd be disappointed to find there was never a monocle on the Monopoly man and never will be. Finally, the biggest titan of the Mandela Effect has practically become rewritten history. The legend of Star Wars: "Luke, I am your father." The iconic line… is wrong. Well, it might as well be correct, but as far as scripts go, this was never a line spoken in the film. "No, I am your father" is actually the line hidden from the spotlight.

As mentioned earlier, this isn't a concept bound to pop culture; it actually affects businesses more commonly than you'd imagine. Fruit of the Loom, a staple of t-shirts. What does its logo look like? A variety of fruits and a brown cornucopia, but remove the brown cornucopia. If this is too much to grasp, have a break, have a Kit-Kat or perhaps a KitKat since there was never a hyphenation in the brand name.

Ultimately, the Mandela Effect serves as a reminder of reality and that not all is as we remember (literally). It's a phenomenon that keeps people talking and likely will for years to come because it is perhaps the only way to truly rewrite history.