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Big Mac boxes full of news: Reddit discovers the most absurd VHS collection of the 2000s
18.11.2025
Translation: machine translated
A gigantic collection of old VHS recordings in Big Mac boxes from 2004 to 2009 is being given away - and the Internet Archive crew is already queuing up.
If you've ever wondered how much space thousands of VHS tapes take up: The answer is «an entire room - plus more McDonald's boxes than you can carry».
Source: whatdoyouthinkisreal auf Reddit
This is exactly what a treasure trove that is currently making a splash on Reddit looks like. One user is giving away a complete news archive from the 2004 to 2009 era, all neatly organised on tape, straight from her living room in Ann Arbor. And all packed in Big Mac boxes.
Why McDonald's boxes? It's simple: the woman who recorded everything back then worked for the fast food giant. Recycling the American way.
Who gets to bid for the VHS tapes?
The deal is quickly explained: If you want the tapes, you have to save them. And really save them. In other words: digitise them. «I'll only give the collection to someone who archives the tapes», writes Reddit user whatdoyouthinkisreal according to the portal Tom's Hardware. Around 18 boxes are already gone. The rest are waiting for someone with a VHS player, a good story and a lot of patience.
No wonder an acquaintance immediately got in touch: Jason Scott from the Internet Archive. A man who saves data from oblivion for a living. Many on Reddit immediately voted in favour of handing over the tapes to him. However, others grumbled: the Internet Archive is already sitting on vast amounts of material that has still not been digitised.
Archive romanticism meets archive reality.
And what's actually on all the tapes?
The tapes don't contain series or sitcoms, but news. Wall to wall. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and all the breaking news moments that filled the screens between 2004 and 2009: From Hurricane Katrina to the launch of the first iPhone to Obama's election victory. And yes: Janet Jackson's legendary Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction is also somewhere in the middle of it all.
Source: whatdoyouthinkisreal auf Reddit
The Reddit user believes that it's not the news itself that is most valuable, but the adverts in between. Minutes of time travelling to a world in which «unlimited minutes» were still a selling point and smartphones were rather... well, stupid.
It remains to be seen whether Internet Archive will ultimately win the bid. But there is no question that these boxes should be digitised. Because in the end, the VHS collection shows one thing above all: history doesn't happen in high gloss, but on magnetic tape. Sometimes between fries and Big Macs.
Header image: whatdoyouthinkisreal on Reddit
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.
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