An image of a DVD movie purportedly about a woman whose husband turns into a cereal grain, which claims on the packaging to be one of former President Barack Obama's favorite films in 2017, has gone viral.
Comedian Alan Wagner posted a photo to his X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts in a post that has been viewed on X more than 1.6 million times in the 20 hours since he posted the photo.
The Claim
Wagner posted of photo of someone holding a DVD case in what appears to be a regular department store, perhaps Target because of a branded sticker on the case featuring a bull's-eye logo.
The cover shows the movie is called Grain Husband and identifies it as a "romance/emotional classics" film. It features a woman holding out her hand, with a small grain in her palm. The subtitle reads: "The husband has become a grain."
Three men stare sultrily at the camera beneath the caption, "And the three brothers who held the secret …"
At the bottom of the cover is a strip with a thumbnail picture of a smiling Obama and the claim: "Included in Barack Obama's Annual 'Top Films for Women—2017' List."
"Thank you for selecting our film, and thank you for your presidency," reads the remainder of the text.
The final feature on the DVD case is a "suggested film/wine pairing" sticker, which shows a box of red wine called "Dr. Aroused's Boxed Cabernet Sauvignon $19.99" decorated with a photo of a doctor in a white lab coat.
Wagner captioned his viral post: "I'm actually interested to see what happens in this."
The comedian's social media bio on Patreon says: "I'm Alan, I make comedy, I make videos, I make things." On Instagram, Wagner says of his social media content: "I make all this stuff."
Newsweek contacted Obama by press contact form on his website, and Wagner by Instagram direct message on Tuesday morning for comment.
The Facts
While Obama did begin a tradition during his presidency of releasing a list of his favorite books and music each year, he did not appear to begin listing movies until 2018. The 2018 movie lists did not contain any movies with the word "husband" or "grain" in the title, according to Variety.
In 2017, President Obama did release two lists, but only for his favorite books and songs.
"During my presidency, I started a tradition of sharing my reading lists and playlists. It was a nice way to reflect on the works that resonated with me and lift up authors and artists from around the world. With some extra time on my hands this year to catch up, I wanted to share the books and music that I enjoyed most. From songs that got me moving to stories that inspired me, here's my 2017 list—I hope you enjoy it and have a happy and healthy New Year," he wrote on Facebook at the time.
Furthermore, there is limited information online for a movie called Grain Husband, including on the seminal film source, the internet Movie Database (IMDB).
There appears to only be two movies released in 2017 with the title "grain" in them. The first is a Turkish feature sci-fi, postapocalyptic movie called Grain, directed by Semih Kaplanoglu.
The other is a short film called The Last Grain, starring Matthew Scurfield.
The Ruling
Satire. Wagner clearly states that much of his online comedy is about making funny videos and photos that include absurd, and very much fake, news stories, neighborhood flyers, music, and in this case a movie.
The movie Grain Husband is not real because it does not appear on any credible movie websites, nor did President Obama release a favorite movie list that year. Nor has he ever released a list called "Top Films For Women."
FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK
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