The Pepsi logo that haunted the CN Tower for over a decade
In 1986, Pepsi's coloured-gel logo appeared on the tower's radome as part of a laser light show. When the gels were removed in 1987, the adhesive left a ghostly brown stain that lingered for years.
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For many years, people swore they saw a faded Pepsi logo on the CN Tower's radome — that white doughnut-shaped ring protecting the microwave equipment at the base of the main pod. Others insisted it never existed, fueling internet theories about the Mandela Effect, the phenomenon where large numbers of people share identical false memories.
The truth is messier and more interesting: the logo was real, but no official record was ever kept.
In late 1986, Pepsi-Cola Canada partnered with radio station CFNY 102.1 to create "Pepsi Lights," a laser spectacle atop the CN Tower. The brainchild of Pepsi's maverick group marketing director Roger Baranowski, the promotion ran semi-regularly from December 1986 through early 1987.
The classic 1980s Pepsi logo — the three-circle design created in 1973 — was applied to the inside of the radome using coloured gels stuck down with adhesive. Few who witnessed the "Pepsi Lights" laser show remember what it actually looked like, but letters to the Toronto Star from the time reveal sharp debate: some praised it as cool, others condemned it as a tacky desecration of a city landmark.
When the promotion ended in early 1987, the adhesive had reacted with the radome's fabric, leaving behind a brownish outline of the logo when the gels were removed. Attempts to track down video or pictures of the laser show have been futile, and attempts to fully remove the stain apparently left it more visible — a faded ghost mark that haunted the tower for more than a decade.
The mystery endured partly because no official explanation was ever publicized. It became easier for people to doubt their own memories than for a corporation and a landmark to admit they'd left a scar.