- Cory Grajales
Alternate:
Motto was "Do no evil"
Current:
Motto was "Don't be evil"
What was Google's motto?
There were many other search engines around before Google, with a few notables being Yahoo, AltaVista and Lycos. Google wasn't really considered amongst them until 1998, but even from it's early days it strove to be different, and from the year 2000 it included a mission "motto". This was a cute phrase which encapsulated the whole company ethos, and the one it used was widely seen as a sly dig at Microsoft, because it those days that was the computing giant with a colorful history, whilst Google was the plucky new upstart.
The motto it used then was abandoned in 2018 following the Alphabet restructure, which it performed largely to mitigate against future anti-trust problems. There is confusion, however, over exactly what the original motto was, with many remembering 'Do no evil' and many also remembering "Don't be evil".
- Paul Baker
Alternate:
Cheeze-Itz
Current:
Cheeze-It
Kellogg's cheesy snack
Here's another branding curiosity.
Since 1921, many people have enjoyed the famous Kelloggs snack crackers thinking they were called "Cheeze-Itz", and are surprised to find today they've been using the wrong name all along. Despite it having the "Cheeze-It" name for close on 100 years, it still comes as a shock when they see the big lettering on the pack which plainly says "Cheeze-It".
There is a class of spelling Mandela Effects where the pronunciation is the same for all variants, and an even subtler class where the plural is assumed to be the real name because it is naturally spoken out loud more often. Examples are Depends underwear and Braggs. With this one, the "z" always appears in the first word, so appending it to make the plural seems a good fit for stylish reasons.
- Kevin Robbs
Alternate:
LinkdIn
Current:
LinkedIn
Dropped e
Whilst there are many Mandela Effects which relate to branding, most tend to be associated with long-established companies and not modern internet-based ones. The famous missing cornucopia in the Fruit of the Loom logo goes back to 1851, for example.
So when many people started reporting they distinctly remembered the famous business networking site as "LinkdIn" rather than the "LinkedIn" they see today, they say this might be the cause. These people are certain they remember the old spelling, and are sure it must have been changed at some point in the past even though there is no evidence of this to be found.
Ironically, LinkedIn itself is aware of the ME - there are numerous posts on the subject on the site itself, but none concern a change in the name.
- Bitterwood
Alternate:
Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer
Current:
Metro-Goldwn-Mayer
What does MGM stand for?
MGM is one of the world's oldest film studios and its origins can be traced to the dawn of the movie business in Hollywood.
It's roaring lion brand is instantly recognisable as the first thing you see in literally hundreds of classic movies, so it's surprising that a key feature of this is causing some confusion. In that logo, and the short video which accompanies it, the full wording for "MGM" is spelt out prominently above the lion's head. Today, it reads "Metro Goldwyn Mayer", but some are saying they remember it as "Metro Goldwyn Meyer".
There's a possible connection here with another Mandela Effect - the Oscar Mayer/Meyer one, just based on the wording alone.
- Bill Perez
Alternate:
Scott's Porridge Oats
Current:
Scott's Porage Oats
The breakfast of real men
The wholesome oat based meal from Scotland has been eaten since the middle ages, but it was only since 1914 that the distinctive Scott's band was launched, together with the iconic "fine figure of a man" shot putter. This was based on a real person, the legendary Highland Games athlete Jay Scott.
There's a problem, however, with the spelling. Many today are surprised to see the packet spelling it as "Porage", having been sure this must be wrong because they had always known it as "Porridge"
A Google image search will often draw a gasp from those affected, since it clearly shows many instances of it always being spelt "Porage".
- Joe Hill
Alternate:
Cup O' Noodles
Current:
Cup Noodles
Cup O' Noodles or Cup Noodles?
Cup Noodles or Cup O' Noodles? They seem to have been with us forever, and are particularly well loved by busy students on a budget. Many swear the snack food from Nissin was called Cup O' Noodles, but only see it as Cup Noodles today. However, this one is different... :-)
Instant noodles were invented in 1958 by the guy who went on to found Nissin foods, Momofuku Ando, and in 1971 they were launched in the US.
However - and here's the twist - they really were called Cup O' Noodles in the US until 1993, when they became the plain Cup Noodles. This is an example of the pattern of a Mandela Effect being seen, in that there is little evidence today apart from in people's memories, yet is definitely not one.
- Ian Grogan
Alternate:
Red above blue
Current:
Blue above red
What colors are the chevrons on the logo?
With it's roots going back to 1879, Chevron is one of the worlds largest companies. It's logo is very familiar the world over, but has it always been the way you remembered it?
Many are reporting the colors on the two chevron shapes have swapped over, that is, they remember the red one above the blue one rather than vice versa.
The Chevron we know today was created as a result of the federal government breaking up Standard Oil in 1911. One of the smaller parts, Standard Oil Co. (California), was using the Chevron name in the 1930's where it, and the logo branding, was adopted for the company moving forwards.