In the age of streaming, going out to buy a CD or DVD might seem like an arcane undertaking. Most likely, you’ll be using something old and used. And more than that, it will probably mean you are looking for something obscure. Internet libraries are quite extensive, so those rare pieces of media that are not digitized are probably going to be pretty obscure. This could mean a trip to a flea market or one of those remaining DVD stores to peruse the aisles. As anyone who has done this in recent years, you will be struck by the amount of media out there that you likely had no idea existed. 

In the US and Canada alone, there were 449 feature films released in 2022. Now, if that seems like a lot, consider that in 2018, that number was 873. Covid 19 had a pretty negative effect on the industry, as 2020 saw just 334 releases, still enough for you to watch a new film almost every single day. But these are just feature films, meaning they have to be at least forty or sixty minutes long. So once you add in short films, how-to videos, and everything in between, you have more content being created than a person can comfortably watch in a year. 

What might make this “worse” is that home films, direct-to-DVD, and how-to videos are unlikely to have any internet presence, particularly if they were released before the ‘net was widely used. As a result, the main way to learn about a truly underground film is by word-of-mouth or to encounter it in a store. Now, the examples here all hail from the “Obvious Plant” Instagram account, but there is an ocean of weird media out there already. 

After all, there are “real” films with such colorful titles as “Born Into Mafia” and “Shark Exorcist,” so some of the (unreal) options here seem tame in comparison. While large-budget releases will have curated fonts for text, meticulously designed visuals and a focused-grouped title, small, independently created DVDs have no such limitation. Autor-directors can go wild with strange choices, unusual colors, and grammar-defying titles. As a result, who can really say what is real or fake? Well, generally, it’s possible, but there are enough strange creations out there to keep many of us guessing. 

On the flip side, what would one need to begin creating their own “obvious plants”? Well, an idea first of all. These creations appear much like parodies of other media, so the initial form should be understandable to a first-time viewer. For example, “Abandoning your family, made easy!” is pretty clearly a parody video straight out of the pre-internet era. For younger readers, before one could look up a YouTube tutorial, you could actually buy VHS tapes and even DVDs that would show you how to change a car’s oil, or, allegedly, how to abandon your family.

It’s important to also use the language of the medium you hope to parody. “Made Easy,” is a perfect example; you'll find it on hundreds if not thousands of other DVDs and VHS tapes. Consider other forms like “in ten easy steps,” or somewhat unusual grammar, such as “the joy of father!” Altogether, the text on the item should be close enough to real, if amateurish, with a subject that is truly bizarre. Good topics include incredibly niche situations, like how to teach a gorilla to land an airplane to become more morbid, like the aforementioned ditching of one’s family.

Visual design is also an important part of tricking the average viewer. They need to feel comfortable seeing all the nice, common, curated fonts and symbols. Forget innovation, you need to be tacky, uninspired, and comfortable. This way, the whiplash of an absolutely unhinged topic will bowl the viewer over when it’s “encircled” by the trappings of a semi-professional how-to video or home film. If these CDs and DVDs have left you feeling inspired for more, Bored Panda has got you covered, check out our other articles here and here.