The first thing I associated with Subway's ridiculous six dollar 'deal' was a phenomenon known as ‘The Mandela Effect’. In short, this describes a type of collective misremembering. The name references how some people are convinced Nelson Mandela died in prison. It’s a bizarre sort of thing to be convinced of because it isn’t like Mandela walked off Robben Island and passed away quietly some years later - in fact, I would argue his accomplishments as the President of South Africa make Mandela one of the most prominent public figures of my lifetime. And yet, despite his high profile, for many caught in the power of 'The Mandela Effect' it's like his post-prison accomplishments never happened.
My adventures with Subway, however, is not an example of this. This company is going to have a better chance of convincing me that Mandela died in prison than it will of making me consider the $6 footlong as some kind of 'deal'.
An actual personal example of ‘The Mandela Effect’ comes from my music-hunting adventures on Youtube. I found a song I used to listen to, ‘Panic Switch’, by a band called the Silversun Pickups. And I was like – this is obviously wrong, they’re the Silver-SPUN Pickups, everyone knows this! It wouldn’t be the first time some overzealous fan mistyped the name of a band as they were uploading pirated content, right?
But the more I researched, the less convinced I became. I couldn’t even go on Google and find examples of other people who thought the band was called the Silverspun Pickups! If I am the only one who remembers the past differently, does it even count as an example of The Mandela Effect?
There is another factor to consider here, reader – I don’t really care. I don’t care whether this band is called the Silver-SPUN Pickups or the Silver-SUN Pickups or The Scare Me Outta Hiccups or whatever. If the past is something that lives a little differently in my middle aged head, then so be it. Perhaps this is why some people make no effort to correct their own misconception that Mandela died in prison sometime during the first Bush administration - ultimately, though it might seem silly to misremember such well-known facts, it just doesn't really matter how good anyone is at trivia.
Footnotes / a confession / sources cited
0. Getting old is getting old...
I should note – I like the band a little more as the Silversun Pickups. It’s the little details in music, you know? In addition to the two songs I mention, I thought Circadian Rhythm and Lazy Eye were worth a few listens.
1. I didn’t know about Kazaam being involved in an example…
This link has a list of commonly cited examples of this effect.
