# Paul the Octopus

> An aquarium octopus correctly picked the winners of eight World Cup matches.

- Owner: Sea Life Oberhausen
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Sports
- Seed date: Jun 2008
- Milestone date: 2010-07-09
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 39 (Niche, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Real-world spectacle, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

Sea Life staged Paul's flag-box predictions before football matches. His unbeaten World Cup run drew live TV, Facebook fans and YouTube coverage. He picked Spain on July 9, retired after the final and became a documentary subject.

## Timeline

- Jun 2008 — Sea Life Oberhausen (Open web) — Sea Life used Paul's food-box choices to predict Germany's European Championship matches.
- 2010-06-22 — Sea Life Oberhausen (Open web) — Paul chose Germany over Ghana after correctly picking the Australia and Serbia results.
- 2010-06-25 — BBC News (Press) — The BBC covered Paul's Germany-over-England pick after it appeared across German media.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/paul-the-octopus

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Paul the Octopus.” Case HIS-01554. Spread Score v1.3: 39/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01554