Birds might not be real, according to a popular internet conspiracy theory, but a junior hockey team in Wisconsin made sure their jerseys paying homage to the meme were a reality over the weekend.
On Friday, December 12, the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League hosted their first-ever Birds Aren’t Real Night, fittingly against the Waterloo Black Hawks. For the occasion, they temporarily rebranded as the Surveillance Swans and donned special orange jerseys.
“Birds Aren’t Real” stems from an online conspiracy theory started by Peter McIndoe in 2017. It posits that the U.S. government had replaced all living birds with robots that spy on people around the world. McIndoe kept up the ruse for several years, but he eventually admitted it was a hoax. However, the meme endures on the internet to this day.
The Capitols did little to dispel the myth with their jerseys for Friday’s game. Their Surveillance Swans logo — a swan’s head and neck in the shape of an S, with a video camera for the swan’s eye — sat on the front of the bright orange sweater. The sleeves and waist had a broad white stripe with narrow orange and navy blue stripes below that served as a transition to navy blue panels on the forearms and hem.
On the back of the jerseys, player names were set in white on a navy blue nameplate. Numbers on the sleeves and back were white with a navy blue outline. The Capitols’ primary logo appeared on the left shoulder, while a patch honouring Madison native and 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team member Bob Suter sat on the right shoulder. This patch also appears on their regular home and away jerseys.
The Surveillance Swans jerseys were paired with solid navy blue socks and the Capitols’ usual navy blue gloves, helmet and pants. The pants had light blue and white stripes down the sides, which are colours found in their primary logo.
Along with the jerseys, the Capitols were selling a wide range of Surveillance Swans merchandise in their online shop. As of Wednesday, December 17, they had received orders from 44 out of the 50 states in the U.S., including Hawai’i. Game-worn jerseys were auctioned off online.
