Author: Jake Rossen

Despite being a bladder-shattering 23.5 ounces, cans of AriZona iced tea have never wavered from the 99-cent price point introduced shortly after the drink debuted in 1992. It’s even printed on the label as a way of warding off sugar-water price gouging by retailers.

The fact that AriZona has been able to resist inflation for nearly a quarter-century is impressive. The fact that the cans usually wind up being cheaper than smaller soft drinks is also impressive, until you begin to realize how strange it is that a vat of iced tea and its accompanying ingredients somehow manages to be less expensive than plain water.

In a recent interview with Thrillist, AriZona chief marketing officer and co-owner Spencer Vultaggio shed some light on this convenience store mystery.

Unlike water titans Coke (which distributes Dasani), Evian, or Fiji, AriZona has virtually no advertising dollars invested in their teas. “We feel like it’s more important to spend money on something that our customer really cares about, instead of buying billboards or putting our cans in the hands of some celebrity for a few minutes,” Vultaggio said.

Even with a frugal approach to ads, AriZona still has to deal with rising production costs. To help resist increasing prices to compensate, the company has pursued alternative manufacturing methods, using 40 percent less aluminum in cans and having enough factories dotting the country to make transportation more efficient. Bottled water, in contrast, is sometimes sourced from abroad, making for exorbitant shipping costs.

In the end, it’s not the iced tea that’s more economical than the water; it’s that the container it comes in is simply cheaper to produce and transport. And while AriZona isn’t above charging a premium for fancier drinks—like a tea brewed with oak chips that sells for twice the price—their branding depends heavily on those familiar rows of 99-cent cans and the loyal consumers who keep reaching for them.

Have you got a Big Question you’d like us to answer? If so, let us know by emailing us at bigquestions@mentalfloss.com.

On July 11, 1958, five weeks after being married, Richard and Mildred Loving awoke to flashlights and uniformed policemen hovering over their bed. An anonymous tip had led police to the couple for violating Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act. Richard was white; Mildred was black. In 24 states, including Virginia, interracial marriage was illegal.

The Lovings’ fight against that supreme injustice is the subject of Loving, a new feature from director Jeff Nichols. Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga portray the couple whose love was against the law, and who were forced to flee Virginia and face criminal charges for having wed. (The two were married in Washington, D.C., one of the places that recognized mixed-race unions.) Labeled felons, they were told never to return to their home while they were still together.

It would be years before the Lovings made progress, thanks in large part to the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union and volunteer lawyer Bernie Cohen. The case was eventually brought before the United States Supreme Court. Their 1967 ruling would break down the last of the legal barriers in the racial segregation that had divided the country for much of the decade.

Loving is currently in limited release. To check and see if it’s playing in a theater near you, go here. To get a glimpse into the making of the film, check out the video below.

After 45 years overseeing his entertainment empire from the comfortable confines of the opulent Playboy Mansion, Hugh Hefner has become a tenant. Last August, the 90-year-old founder of Playboy magazine sold the property via his Playboy Enterprises to private equity investor Daren Metropoulos for $100 million, with the caveat that Hefner can lease it for $1 million a month.

Metropoulos—whose firm owns the Hostess snack company—is buying more than just a 29-room luxury residence. Throughout the decades, the Mansion has been seen as the ultimate destination for decadence and sexualized socializing. Check out 15 facts about its history, the secret tunnels built for celebrities, and why Mike Tyson won’t be attending movie night anytime soon.

1. IT WASN’T THE FIRST PLAYBOY COMPOUND.

When Hugh Hefner produced the first issue of Playboy in 1953, he toiled from a kitchen table in a small Chicago apartment. By 1959, the magazine had become so successful that he was able to take over a Chicago mansion, outfitting it with an indoor basement pool and a bedroom-slash-office with a 100-inch diameter bed; Playboy models and nightclub employees could rent rooms on the third and fourth floors for $50 a month. (No male visitors were allowed.)

After buying the real estate where he built the Los Angeles mansion for $1 million in 1971, Hefner shuttled between both before making a permanent move to the West Coast in 1974. After stints as an art school and student dorm, the Chicago building was converted to a seven-unit condominium in 1993.

2. CELEBRITIES USED SECRET TUNNELS FOR VISITS.

The 1970s saw a number of celebrities use the Mansion for decathlons of decadence, but not everyone wanted to be seen coming and going. According to Playboy.com, Polaroids and blueprints were discovered in 2015 detailing an underground network of tunnels running from the property to the homes of famous guests like Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, and James Caan. It’s believed the tunnels were closed in 1989, the year of Hefner’s marriage to Playmate Kimberley Conrad.

3. JOHN LENNON ONCE ASSAULTED A PAINTING THERE.

The Mansion doubles as an impressive art gallery for art aficionado Hefner, but one former Beatle wasn’t too appreciative. During a visit to the Mansion in the 1970s, John Lennon allegedly became a little belligerent and extinguished his cigarette into a work by Henri Matisse. Hefner restored the illustration; Lennon was presumably allowed to continue visiting.

4. IT HAS ITS OWN PET CEMETERY.

With both its own zoo license and dozens of pets roaming the Mansion over the years, Hefner thought it would make sense to keep a resting place for animals on the grounds. Many of Hefner’s personal canines have been buried there; so have many of the Mansion’s several monkeys and 50-plus varieties of birds. One tombstone reads, “Teri, Beloved Woolly Monkey.”

5. THE PLACE IS BOOBY-TRAPPED.

In his autobiography, The Unusual Suspect, actor Stephen Baldwin recalled the time that he and Robert Downey, Jr. descended a spiral staircase to hang out with Playmates and possibly indulge in semi-legal substances in the wine cellar. When Downey reached the third-to-last step, he turned to Baldwin and told him not to step on it because it would trigger a silent alarm. The feature might have been a holdover from 1927, when the cellar was in use as a boozy storage room during Prohibition.

6. LUKE WILSON WAS BANNED FROM THE PREMISES.

Actor Luke Wilson admitted to press in 2006 that some modest misdirection while talking to Mansion staff got him “DNAed”—tagged with a Do Not Admit label. Wilson said a Mansion employee asked who he was with one night and Wilson lied by saying it was his brother, Owen: It was actually a friend. Wilson was denied entry for 18 months before he groveled and was allowed back in.

7. SOMETIMES GUESTS WOULD JUST MOVE IN.

The amenities of the Mansion were such that several of Hefner’s guests over the years considered it a staycation. James Caan moved in for a bit in the 1970s; so did Shel Silverstein and Tony Curtis.

8. IT’S HOSTED BOXING EVENTS.

Hefner has opened up the Mansion several times to host professional boxing and mixed martial arts events. Boxers like David Haye, who were accustomed to fighting in front of large Las Vegas crowds, found it slightly disarming to compete in front of just a few hundred spectators, many of them celebrities; Hefner thumbed his nose at women competing, telling The Guardian in 2003 that he had “mixed” emotions about females fighting.

9. HEFNER HAS AN IN-HOUSE BIOGRAPHER.

Chronicling the many seminal moments in Hefner’s life is the duty of Steve Martinez, a full-time archivist who painstakingly updates and maintains the nearly 3000 volumes of scrapbooks kept in the Mansion’s library. Martinez collects photos and information during the week; on weekends, he and Hefner update the books. The volumes begin with portraits of Hefner at six months; the subject has left instructions that the final volumes be filled with his obituaries.

10. THE GROTTO ONCE MADE PEOPLE REALLY SICK.

Hefner has had to endure many jokes over the years about the alleged petri dish that is the grotto, the Mansion’s man-made cave that includes a whirlpool. In April 2011, it stopped being funny: 123 people who visited the attraction over a weekend for a fundraiser became ill, with health officials identifying the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease in the water. Symptoms included fever, headache, cough, and other flu-like ailments.

11. IT EMPLOYS OVER 80 STAFF MEMBERS.

With 21,000 square feet to attend to, there’s no skeleton crew: Playboy employs over 80 full-time workers to tend to the grounds, cook, provide security, and maintain electrical and plumbing services.

12. MIKE TYSON BROKE MANSION RULES.

Hefner takes the Mansion’s regularly-scheduled movie nights very seriously. A lifetime film buff, he has a board of friends curate titles for screenings and has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to disruptions during their running times. Once, Mike Tyson was invited to attend a film. After sinking into a leather couch, he fell asleep, ignoring his phone that kept ringing incessantly. It was Tyson’s first and last invitation to the movies.

13. GUESTS ARE GREETED BY FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER.

Visitors bearing an invitation to the Mansion are brought through iron gates to the entrance, where they announce their presence to a giant rock housing an intercom system. Once inside, guests idle for a bit in the Great Room, a foyer containing several portraits of Hefner and a giant statue of Frankenstein’s monster.

14. HEFNER HAS A CARDBOARD STAND-IN.

When a dinner gathering or party is in full swing and Hefner can’t attend, a life-size cardboard cut-out of him can usually be seen looming over the proceedings.

15. LARRY FLYNT ALMOST BOUGHT IT.

Free speech advocate/Hustler founder Larry Flynt expressed interest in buying the Mansion early in 2016, with plans to convert it into the “Hustler Mansion.” While it’s not known whether a formal offer was ever made, Flynt conveyed through associate Harry Mohney that Hefner would not be welcome to remain. As it stands, Hefner’s deal includes being able to remain in residence until his death.

All images courtesy of Getty Images.

Some people can become so devoted to their favorite specific pizza toppings, that many online ordering apps allow you to preset your preferences with the expectation they’re never going to change.

Granted, pepperoni and mushroom with extra cheese never fails to satisfy. But if you’re feeling adventurous, try ordering one of these regional-specialty toppings that might totally change your pizza perspective.

1. TRUFFLES // NEW YORK CITY

Fall is truffle season, and New York’s restaurants and pizzerias love to take full advantage of the fluffy fungi to add flavor. As supplies are shipped through the city’s artery of eateries, you’ll find several locations that add the shaved delicacy to pies. Yelp reviewers are fond of Song E Napule in Greenwich Village.

2. LOBSTER // BOSTON

It’s no great surprise that crustaceans who were occupying the coast just a few hours prior to being served are going to be a town specialty. But Boston does a great job incorporating shellfish on their Italian-inspired wares, too: One of the most notable dishes is at Scampo inside the Liberty Hotel, where chef Lydia Shire takes a thin crust pizza and douses it with heavy cream, garlic, and the meat of an entire two-pound lobster.

3. PROVEL CHEESE // ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

If you think you’ve tried every possible cheese variety on your crust, you might have missed St. Louis’s proprietary variation: Provel, a highly-processed blend of Swiss, provolone, and cheddar. Gooey, waxy, and thick, it can be found at area chain Imo’s, which also doubles as the cheese’s distributor.

4. CRAB // BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

While other area pie shops toss crab on their menu, no less an authority than Zagat declared Matthew’s Pizza’s crab deep dish pie to be well worth a road trip. It’s pizza so good that it helped fuel writer David Simon through a stint producing HBO’s The Wire. Simon once said “it’s unlike anything that calls itself pizza anywhere in the world.”

5. FIVE-SEED // LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA

Order the five-seed pie at The Fridge in Lancaster and you’ll get served up a pizza with a blend of sesame, pumpkin, and sunflower, along with sliced dates.

6. SALAD // LOS ANGELES

It seems like a cliché: of course image-obsessed L.A. would spare calories by dousing their pizzas with lettuce. But looks can be deceiving. Grey Block Pizza uses bagel dough as a crust for their trademark salad pizza, topping it with a heaping layer of romaine, chopped vegetables, and lemon-infused feta. It’s thick, crunchy, and has no ability to spare your waistline.

7. BARBEQUE // MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Barbeque chicken pizza is everywhere, but if you want it done right, head to Memphis and opt for the pork. Coletta’s takes a standard crust and drowns it in pulled pork and their signature barbeque sauce. The pies are so good that Elvis Presley kept a running tab he’d have Colonel Parker (his manager) pay off monthly. If you’re not local, they’ll be happy to ship it to you.

8. MASHED POTATO // NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

New Haven was already renowned for its pizza before the proprietors of Bar decided to take the concept of comfort food to a new level. Their mashed potato pizza is topped with light, whipped spuds and bacon bits.

9. UNCOOKED, A.K.A. OHIO VALLEY STYLE // STEUBENVILLE, OHIO

While some bloggers have compared this practice to topping pizza with a Lunchables box, there’s no denying it’s an intriguing take on preparing a pie. Pizzerias in Steubenville are fond of cooking the dough and then adding uncooked cheese and toppings post-mortem, allowing the heat from the crust to slowly melt the cheese or using a takeout box to effectively steam-cook the top.

10. KANGAROO // SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

The adventurous meat lover may want to venture to Sydney, where local establishments like the Heritage Hotel offer pies topped with rich kangaroo meat. Slices of ‘roo tenders are marinated in a pepper and onion olive sauce. If that’s too tame for you, the Hotel can also serve up a Salt Water Crocodile slice.

Following a traffic accident in 1998, 15-year-old Griselda Servin spent two years in a coma. When she awoke, the Paraguayan was excited to find out that a regional television show, Tell Me a Dream, would be making one of her wishes come true. Servin would have an opportunity to fly to America, which she had always wanted to see, with all expenses paid.

There was one condition. Instead of heading for New York City, which she preferred, the show would be sending her to Fremont, Ohio. Servin would be honoring her country by visiting the resting place of its greatest hero—the 19th American president, Rutherford B. Hayes.

How Hayes—by most historical accounts, a man who chaired an unremarkable presidency from 1877 to 1881 that was remembered mainly for introducing telephones and Easter Egg rolls to the White House—wound up becoming an icon for a small South American country is remarkable. Not because of the geographical divide, but because Hayes himself might have had virtually nothing to do with it.

In 1864, Brazil had tried to intervene in a civil war in Uruguay; Paraguay was worried that this would destabilize the entire region, and ultimately declared war on Brazil, which enlisted Argentina and Uruguay to overtake the Paraguayans. Paraguay was so overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the opposing soldiers that they began painting sticks to look like guns and putting them in the hands of children wearing fake beards. After six years of bloodshed, the country had seen up to 60 percent of its population killed in combat or dead of disease.

Sensing easy prey, Argentina swooped in to claim Chaco, a desolate slice of land roughly the size of Colorado that made up 60 percent of Paraguay’s total territory. Losing it meant Paraguay would be in danger of ceasing to exist.

In an attempt to settle the land issue without bloodshed, the countries agreed to arbitration by a neutral third party: the United States. Both submitted reams of documents and testimony arguing why their side should be awarded Chaco.

On November 12, 1878, Hayes released a written decision. It read, in part:

…Be it known that I, Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of America, having duly considered the said statements and the said exhibits, do hereby determine that the said Republic of Paraguay is legally and justly entitled to the said territory between the Pilcomayo and the Verde rivers, and to the Villa Occidentals situated therein…

Although Chaco was and would remain largely destitute and semi-inhabitable—Paraguayans like to refer to it as the “Green Hell” despite a productive cattle ranching industry—it didn’t matter. To them, Hayes had rendered a just decision that offered some ray of hope after a devastating three-pronged attack, one that had left just 29,000 adult males alive—many still with battle wounds.

Over the next several decades, Paraguay’s reverence for Hayes swelled. It named a state Presidente Hayes, with the town at the mouth of Chaco dubbed Villa Hayes. A museum was erected in his honor; a bust of him greets schoolchildren at Villa Hayes Elementary. The date of his decision, November 12, is a provincial holiday.

Amid the monuments, soccer teams, and postage stamps honoring him, Paraguayans often express disbelief whenever they’re confronted with the idea that Americans don’t spend much time thinking about Hayes.

Ricardo Nuñez, mayor of Villa Hayes, was astonished to be told by a U.S. journalist that Hayes’s contemporaries once referred to him as “Rutherfraud” because his office was preceded by a Constitutional crisis, and he had lost the popular vote.

“Rutherfraud? Wow!” Nuñez told NPR in 2014. “That’s amazing!” He could not conceive of such a slur.

Given Paraguay’s history of malevolent rulers, it’s not surprising that they placed a lot of emotional stock in Hayes, who served just one term and died in 1893. The dictator who antagonized Brazil, General Francisco Solano Lopez, once demanded that his Catholic bishops declare him a saint. If they refused, they were executed. Once he took office, he had his elderly mother flogged in public.

While there’s no record of Hayes ordering the courtyard whipping of his mother, the truth is that no one is quite sure just how much he had to do with the decision to allow Paraguay to keep Chaco. Historians don’t know what criteria was used, or if Hayes simply endorsed the decision made by his staff. It’s likely low-level subordinates pored through paperwork and that Secretary of State William Evarts merely gave the ruling to Hayes for a signature.

For a matter that may have occupied just a couple of hours of his life, Hayes has received infinitely more credit for it than for his entire tenure in office. In Delaware, Ohio, his childhood home was torn down to make room for a commercial development. Those wishing to pay a pilgrimage to Hayes’s birthplace will be greeted by a BP gas station with a memorial plaque out in front.

Opening on May 22, 1985, Rambo: First Blood Part II was a fantasy fever dream of jingoism, Sylvester Stallone’s titular character a monosyllabic redeemer of an America that had failed itself in Vietnam. A onetime Green Beret, Rambo needs little more than 90 minutes to rescue abandoned POWs and somehow salvage his country’s intervention in foreign affairs.

The movie made more than $300 million worldwide. Coleco, which had experienced a phenomenon with the Cabbage Patch Kids, snapped up the rights to produce a toy line. Neutered for young audiences, this Rambo practiced greater discretion, bloodlessly assaulting enemies in a Saturday morning cartoon.

Coleco hoped Rambo: The Force of Freedom would compete with Hasbro’s G.I. Joe for a share of the military-oriented action figure market. Hasbro, which wasn’t about to touch an R-rated film, decided to combat their potential toy aisle rival by enlisting Stallone’s other trademark character: slow-witted boxer Rocky Balboa.

It wasn’t the first time the company pursued a license for a figure that had been established outside of G.I. Joe continuity. Hasbro had released Sergeant Slaughter as a premium mail-away attraction in 1985, co-opting the popular professional wrestler’s recognition among WWE (then WWF) fans.

Slaughter was a success in toy, cartoon, and comic book form, helping reinvigorate a G.I. Joe line that had been on shelves since 1982—an eternity in action figure years. Hasbro hoped Balboa would do the same, aiming to release a mail-away premium figure in 1987 that would be available to customers who sent in proofs of purchase from other G.I. Joe merchandise.

Establishing Rocky’s place in the mythology of the G.I. Joe universe fell on Larry Hama, writer of Marvel’s G.I. Joe comic and a frequent source for hammering out narrative points across the franchise’s many outlets. In a Marvel collection of character biographies titled G.I. Joe: Order of Battle #2, released in late 1986, Hama scripted a brief rundown (above) that presented Balboa as a combat trainer, filling obligations for his “Reserve time” by turning their hands into semi-deadly weapons.

Over at Hasbro, sculptor Bill Merklein was tasked with creating a wax prototype of the character’s action figure:

An in-house Hasbro artist created a mock-up of the card art, which featured the boxer wielding a stick with two boxing gloves attached to either end; another Hasbro designer, Mark Pennington, created the control art, which would have been used to further detail the figure. Curiously, Pennington appeared to take more design cues—headband, long hair—from Stallone’s Rambo iconography than he did Rocky’s:

For kids not yet weaned on crossover movies, this was an exciting prospect: anyone picking up Order of Battle #2 probably imagined a scenario in which Ivan Drago would somehow be dragged into Joe nemesis COBRA’s operations.

But it was not to be. In the very next issue of Order of Battle, Marvel printed what must have been one of the few retractions over the appearance of a fictional character, explaining that Balboa’s debut in the previous comic had been a mistake. It was written with the sober language of someone who had just been yelled at by a lawyer.

How did this awkward partnership between fictional boxer and fictional military force dissolve? According to former Hasbro product manager Kirk Bozigian, Stallone’s representatives knocked him out of contention. “The reason Rocky was dropped from the G.I. Joe line is because his agents got greedy,” Bozigian tells mental_floss. “While we were designing and sculpting Rocky Balboa, a competing toy company, Coleco, was introducing Rambo action figures and vehicles to compete with us. The decision to drop Rocky was an easy one.”

Although they had recruited the more famous star, Coleco wound up enduring protests by antiwar groups angry that the Rambo toy line appeared to be glorifying combat. The accompanying cartoon lasted just a few months.

Stallone’s likeness has never appeared in any subsequent Joe revival, but Hasbro did wind up releasing a villain in 1987 dubbed Big Boa. Considering his boxing gloves and punching bag accessory, it’s very likely he was originally intended to be a personal nemesis for Rocky. Thanks to some legal red tape, he never got to take his swing.

All images courtesy of Tim Finn, author of the upcoming G.I. Joe history A Real American Book.

Every year, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) polls hundreds of health and fitness professionals to get a sense of what exercise trends are dominating gyms across the country. For 2017, it looks like you’ll be wearing your devotion to wellness on your sleeve.

In their 11th annual survey, the ACSM found that wearable tracking devices like the Fitbit will be the most pervasive trend in exercise. The devices also topped their 2015-16 rankings.

Roughly 1800 survey respondents were given a total of 42 trends to rank, which the ASCM calculated to create a power list of the biggest fitness movements happening nationally. While expected entries like yoga and high-intensity interval training are near the top, the survey also found that the idea of “exercise as medicine”—defined as a push for wellness on the part of health care providers—will likely see a sharp increase in popularity, as well as health efforts originating in the workplace.

Also included in the top 20: group training, personal training, wellness coaching, and the use of flexibility rollers.

There was one bit of discouraging news to come out of the data gathering: The ACSM reports that exercise programs targeted for obese or overweight children has been decreasing for several years, currently occupying the 28th slot. Among the lowest on the list? Zumba at 39 and indoor rowing at 41.

[h/t U.S. News and World Report]

Professional sports leagues have no time to waste when it comes to celebrating a world championship win. In the NFL and MLB, teams that have made it to the Super Bowl and World Series have already printed shirts, hats, and other merchandise congratulating themselves on a victory. That means the losing team is left with a sad inventory of apparel that’s declared them the winner—the sports equivalent of a “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline.

Normally, that irrelevant clothing goes to charitable causes. But not anymore.

This week, MLB announced that any gear boasting of a Cleveland Indians win in the 2016 World Series would be rounded up and destroyed. The league cited concerns that the product sometimes makes it way to consumers, despite a strict return protocol. Once the World Series is over, outlets are expected to send the losing team’s product back.

World Vision, the organization that had previously been responsible for distributing the clothing to impoverished parts of the world, told ESPN.com that they had no knowledge of any product they had acquired in the past making its way into the hands of collectors.

The problem may extend beyond unauthorized eBay auctions. According to The Huffington Post, secondhand clothing donations can sometimes have a negative impact on local economies struggling to sell their own wares. World Vision said that it normally targets areas where such trade is not a concern.

Chicago Cubs fans, meanwhile, can order their brag-gear online and have it delivered to them via Uber within minutes.

Have you ever wanted to attend a formal dinner party or wedding dressed as Iron Man but were afraid of the social implications? The geek clothiers at Fun.com may have a solution. They’re now offering a line of suits designed to mimic the costumes of some of Marvel and DC Comics’s biggest attractions.

Here’s the runway version of Tony Stark’s alter ego:

Slick, no? A back shot of Batman:

The sublimated costume patterns are laid over polyester and come with a complementary bow tie. The Man of Steel cut also comes with a cotton undershirt that displays his trademark emblem:

If you’d prefer a more subtle nod to your fandom, Fun.com is also offering a line of suits that have comic panels and imagery printed on their interiors:

The suits, priced at $249.99 for adult sizes and $169.99 for child sizes, are available for pre-order. Dry clean only.

All images courtesy of Fun.com.

[h/t Licensing.biz]

Regardless of what political party you support, there’s no question the 2016 election cycle has been full of sensational headlines and alarming accusations. You may even feel as though our system has slipped into something approaching self-parody, with candidates weathering—and lobbing—a laundry list of alleged indiscretions and improper conduct that would seem outrageous in fiction.

If it’s any consolation, this isn’t the first time our political system has resembled a Black Mirror episode. While voters have long written in “protest” names like Mickey Mouse, there have been a handful of times where imaginary candidates managed to run a real campaign. Check out seven instances where exasperated voters could find comfort in a fictional alternative.

1. MR. PEANUT

The salty, dapper legume of Planters Peanuts fame threw his top hat into the Vancouver mayoral race in 1974, advocating sensible measures like hiring freezes for government jobs until the city’s population grew while simultaneously championing fluff like a lending library for umbrellas and rain boots. The man inside the makeshift peanut costume was Vincent Trasov, a performance artist who decided to use the character to explore his interests in anthropomorphism and “contemporary mythology.”

For 20 days, Trasov roamed the city, attracting news cameras and performing impromptu tap dance routines while a campaign manager detailed his peanut platform. When author William S. Burroughs visited, he became captivated by the Peanut party and threw his support behind the candidate. After the ballots were tallied, Trasov had grabbed 2685 votes, a 3.4 percent share. Though Planters probably appreciated all the free publicity, they had nothing to do with the campaign.

2. SANTA CLAUS

If children had been allowed to vote, the 2012 election could have turned out very differently. Nevada resident Thomas O’Connor, a bishop who legally changed his name to Santa Claus and who has an uncanny likeness to that red-suited avatar for holiday cheer, ran for presidential office that year as well as 2008. Claus used his pulpit to advocate streamlining the adoption system and even met with governors across the country from 2005 to 2007 to raise awareness about how their political influence could improve the lives of kids. As a write-in candidate, Claus has no idea how many votes he received that year—the election commissions typically won’t count names that are uncertified.

3. EMPEROR PALPATINE

The 2015 city council elections in Ukraine didn’t appear to have any restrictions when it came to galaxy of origin. A 25-year-old man won an Odessa city seat despite dressing in the flowing robes of Sith lord Emperor Palpatine and listing his job occupation as “emperor” of the “Palpatine Finance Group.” The coup is believed to be the result of an upstart “Internet Party” winning over voters with their absurdist commentary on the local political scene; a man dressed as Chewbacca was also arrested for causing a disruption at a polling station.

4. SUPER BARRIO

An amalgamation of super hero and professional luchador, or Mexican wrestler, Super Barrio was a constant presence in Mexico’s low-income areas in the late 1980s, acting as an arbitrator for tenants who faced eviction or substandard housing conditions. The masked man decided to run for president in 1988 before withdrawing and supporting the National Democratic Front. He is potentially the only masked candidate to ever be allowed to testify in front of Mexico’s Congress of the Union.

5. ZAHRA

In male-dominated Iran, a graphic novel character named Zahra attempted to shake up the status quo by running for president in 2013. Backed by her creators, artists Khalil and Amir, Zahra became the first woman, real or fictional, to run for office in the country. The two said they intended to use Zahra as a way to raise awareness about human rights and to rally against restrictions on free speech. She received over 2000 virtual votes.

6. POGO

The possum hero of Walt Kelly’s classic comic strip became a representative for a generation of young voters dissatisfied with Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in 1952. Rebellious Harvard students incited by the Harvard Crimson pinned “I Go Pogo” buttons to their shirts and lobbied for Pogo’s legitimacy as a third-party candidate. The joke became slightly less amusing when a rally at the school turned violent: As 1600 restless spectators waited for Kelly to make an appearance endorsing his character’s candidacy, they began to disconnect trolley lines, prompting police to wade in and begin swinging nightsticks. Twenty-eight pro-Pogo students were arrested.

7. CTHULHU

For voters unhappy with both major candidates in 2016, a tentacle-faced demagogue may have seemed like a reasonable alternative. Introduced in a 1928 H.P. Lovecraft story as a power-hungry beast lurking in the sunken city of R’lyeh, Cthulhu has allegedly been waiting for his opportunity to rule civilization by electoral vote. While he promises “unmentionable horror” will rain down upon his subjects, he’s also very anti-corporation and vows to promote free education in the dark arts for all. His campaign advisors, who maintain a meticulously-detailed website promoting his effort, prefer to remain semi-anonymous.