Hundreds of people gathered at Chicago’s Millennium Park on Sunday in an unusual attempt to move the city’s iconic Cloud Gate sculpture, popularly known as The Bean, seven inches to the left.
The gathering was ignited by an absurd internet conspiracy theory claiming that a man was trapped inside the landmark.
According to UPI, flyers circulated throughout Chicago and online, urging people to join the effort with the message, “We need to move The Bean 7 inches to the left.”
The first push was scheduled for 12:47 p.m.
The event initially garnered the attention as a viral social media trend before flyers began appearing across downtown Chicago, reported CBS Chicago.
The online event-planning platform Partiful helped promote the gathering, with organisers offering humorous explanations for the unusual mission.
“There is a man trapped inside the bean,” one organiser wrote on the event page.
“New research shows that there might be a latch door under the right side of The Bean. If we move The Bean about seven inches to the left, we might be able to access that door and give the man inside The Bean a pickle and other resources.”
However, the claim was part of a long-running internet joke rather than a genuine emergency.
As per the CBS Chicago, the fictional story had previously inspired protests in 2025 and even prompted a response from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. A YouTube mockumentary titled Man in the Bean was also released earlier this year.
Chicago promoter and entertainer Taylor Bennett shared a video from Sunday’s gathering, jokingly claiming that the participants had made progress.
“Alright, we’re gonna call that at least one inch, someone said it moved,” Bennett mentioned.
He further added, “I don’t know if we got it the full seven inches, but I will say that compared to the last time I was here, it looks like it was moved slightly.”
Bennett later clarified that the sculpture had not moved at all. CBS Chicago also confirmed that the crowd’s efforts failed to shift the massive 110-ton stainless steel structure.
Despite the unsuccessful attempt, participants said the event was more about having fun and connecting with others than actually moving the sculpture.
Created by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, Cloud Gate was installed in Millennium Park in 2004 and has since become one of Chicago’s most recognisable landmarks.
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