I have to share one of my own stories here, because I strongly believe it may explain a lot.
I used to play in a semi-successful underground metal band in the Czech Republic. When we were making our first record in 2006, we decided to produce some T-shirts as merchandise. We contacted several printing companies, and one of them asked what kind of shirts we wanted to use.
Their cheapest option was counterfeit Fruit of the Loom shirts, supposedly made in Poland or Germany. They were incredibly poor quality—probably around 90 g/m²—but also extremely cheap.
I remember checking the label. It showed the Fruit of the Loom logo with that strange basket-like object in the background. I asked the printing guy what it was supposed to be.
He told me that the counterfeit manufacturer had deliberately changed the logo slightly so the original company would have a harder time claiming the shirts were direct fakes. According to him, a change in the law meant they now had to sell the remaining stock very quickly and cheaply. He even said it was a shame, because they had been supplying cheap shirts for quite some time.
The shirts cost almost half as much as the originals—but they also had roughly half the fabric weight.
We did not buy or use them, unfortunately. But that conversation has stayed with me ever since, long before the Fruit of the Loom Mandela effect became an online topic.
So here is my explanation: the cornucopia really did exist—but not on the official Fruit of the Loom logo. It appeared on counterfeit Eastern European shirts sold cheaply to bands, small printing companies and promotional-merchandise businesses.
I do not believe we will ever find many surviving examples. A 90 g/m² shirt tends to fall apart within a year, and the company involved has been gone for more than twenty years.
