Angelenos woke up to a new year and a new historic landmark on Sunday when the Hollywood sign was altered to read “Hollyweed.”
The holiday pranksters used white and black tarps to get their message out to the world, and the world was ready to receive and react.
But despite the hype around the prank and the response from the Los Angeles Police Department, the infamous Hollywood sign has a rich history of changes in its 93 years.
Here are five times the Hollywood sign became something else in the hills overlooking Los Angeles.
“PerotWood”
In 1996, the Hollywood sign was dragged into the political arena after a team of vandals hauled massive tarps up the hill and draped them over the sign to make it read “PerotWood,” as in Ross Perot, who ran for president that year as the Reform Party candidate.
A ribbon of respect
Following the end of combat in Operation Desert Storm, veterans of the Gulf War and from all other wartime eras received a hero’s welcome in Los Angeles for the “Welcome Home Desert Storm Parade.” One particular beacon of Los Angeles said “thank you” with a giant yellow ribbon.
“Go Navy”
Some passionate sailors made their pride known to Hollywood by placing banners readying “Go Navy” over the sign back in Nov. 1983 ahead of the famous Army-Navy Game at the Rose Bowl. The Navy team did go and win 42–13 that year.
Peaked our interest
In Feb. 2011, crews covered the world-famous sign with panels reading “Save the Peak.” It was part of a campaign by a nature preservation group to save the adjacent Cahuenga Peak from development.
Can you see our product placement?
Pepsi took over the sign once to show off its new logo with 20-feet-tall Pepsi cans. How many bucks would that billboard set you back?
Bonus:
Fictional, but still cool
The 1991 Disney action film “The Rocketeer” depicts one version of how the former Hollywoodland sign lost the “land.” It involves Jennifer Connelly, a Zeppelin, Nazis and a jetpack.
