The Onion: Article Analysis

The advertisement from IcyHot has an image of Shaquille O’ Neal in a gray background theme. Shaquille has a smile on his face. He’s wearing a comfortable shirt. As he points at the product showing that he approves this message. The image is zoomed in to so the product can be noticed clearly. The use the words “ADVANCED PAIN CALLS FOR ADVANCED RELIEF” to express the conditions of the product. It’s expressed in big bold letters to appeal the viewer’s attention. The advertisement distinguishes the usage of ethos, logos, and pathos to convince the viewer to purchase the portrayed product.

In the article” The mock Press Release: By the Onion”, products are marketed to consumers by elaborating humor and mocking diction in order to expose the methods used by companies to sell their product even if the claims were false. Companies will try to do anything to get the buyers money. In causation of that the customers see it as the companies being desperate yet they still purchase the product. The Onion, uses satire to grab the attention of the most gullible customer. Not only do they use satire they also implement scientific words most humans don't understand which makes the product sound amazing.

In this fake advertisement about MagnaSoles, The Onion pokes fun at the techniques marketers use to sell their products. The author successfully satirizes how products are marketed to consumers through using the rhetorical devices of pretentious diction, hyperbole, and faulty logic.

In the world of an ever increasing consumer market and the subsequent decline of in depth research, marketing companies like "The Onion" are using many rhetorical devices to lure consumers to their products. MagnaSoles is a generic product that seems extraordinary thanks to the amazing rhetoric used. The rhetorical devices being used endows the product with word play and quotes that are appealing to humans. This strategy works in advertisement. "The Onion" exceeded their goal of using satire to add humor to the product press release by also using stereotypes, irony, and hyperboles.

Humor is one of the most important devices used because it's what makes the essay a satire. Advertisers always exaggerate problems people have. This persuades people to believe they need a certain product to help them. Helene Khun states that wearing MagnaSoles for seven weeks significantly decreased the pain from her twisted ankle. This is humorous because a twisted ankle would be completely healed within the time span of seven weeks. The writers are exposing companies of falsely accrediting their products by letting buyers believe that their product helped them when the buyer did not initially need the product. These "success" stories are what gives companies their reputation's that keep consumers

In the commercial, it talks about “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.” I think every pairs of shoe they gave out to with the help of the organization they were able to distribute to the children that live in different part of the world. The founder of TOM’s shoe, Blake Mycoskie, travels to Argentina, he helps out children by gave them a pair of individual shoes like myself as a viewer was in touch by the fact that there’s people out there actually care about the conditions they live in running low with food and water. Ho uses a different approach to reach out to the viewer who gave him love and support. He wants the customers to get involved and be part of the TOMs program. The kids seem happy;

In the article from The Onion, the author uses humor and satire to mock how marketers describe their products so that consumers will buy their item or product. The products are said to be good for you so that people will get them. Throughout the article, the author’s strong and descriptive use of diction satirizes the way consumers are gullible and will purchase anything just by the way they are shown or described.

In the article by the Onion, the Onion displays the rise of a prison firm as an ingenious success story. By the clever use of satire and overstatements about the company’s work, he achieves the purpose of over-glorifying a simple government corrections group while highlighting the need for prison reform. The articles uses plenty of satire and sarcasm to achieve his purpose.

361 One Degree beyond is a shoe company that is advertizing their Shield 2 line of shoes. The audience this is targeting is most likely people who run because of the slogan “Fast and Soft”. This Add is from a magazine. It has the company logo on the top right corner 361 one degree beyond. In the middle is a sheetah, a half sheep half cheetah. Under that is the slogan “Fast and Soft a Strange and Beautiful Combination”. Under the slogan are some bright colored shoes that stand out a lot from the mostly gray background. Then under that is some words that state “Run beyond your expectations with the 361-Shield 2. l this company is persuading us by getting our attention on something weird and something you won't forget.

In the article “Magnasoles,” marketers trick consumers into buying their products through the use of big words and satire. Readers will assume that these big words mean that this is a quality product. But these words are actually made up to trick us into buying this unnecessary item. When carefully examining all of the information the Magnasoles do not help soothe foot pain in anyway and marketers use fake science to help support their case. Many consumers will not read this article in depth enough and waist their money.

A recent Survey conducted by Harvard University found that The Onion is America’s “most reliable news site”. The report claims that 23,256 out of the 23,255 respondents said that they believe The Onion publishes the most reliable information, followed by Fox News. That’s almost 50% of students surveyed who believe “The Onion” is most reliable! Some of the people surveyed gave The Onion a five-star rating.

Do you have sore feet and feel like there is nothing that can stop or prevent your foot pain? MagnaSoles are new shoe inserts for people just like you who have sore feet! Did you fall for these tactics? Companies use these marketing tactics everyday to convince people just like you to buy their product. In The Onion’s press release, the author demonstrates the use of the rhetorical triangle, bold diction and syntax, and vivid imagery to explain how Americans fall for marketing tactics companies use.

In a journal by Mark A. Callister and Lesa A. Stern, they say that in recent years, “depicting people, products, and objects in ways that far exceed their capability is a common strategy used to gain attention, inject humor, and emphasize product attributes.” The commercial producers are trying to use this technique to show that even though the pods are only a fraction of the size of normal detergent, it gets the job done even better than the alternative. The commercial is metaphorically comparing Simone’s small stature to the modest size of each pod. Exaggerating Simone’s physical skills, in turn creates the thought in each viewer’s mind that this good will similarly outperform its capabilities on their clothes. Mark and Lesa’s study suggests that these kind of hyperbolic commercials are more powerful than ones that do not use this persuasion

In the humorous piece by The Onion, the writer of it satirizes and mocks commercials aimed at people who suffer from some kind of pain/medical issue. It takes the common themes that run through many of these kinds of advertisements and the continuing strategies employed by the creators of it. They target how products are marketed to consumers through the use of pseudo intellectual jargon, the exaggerated stores . the durability of their consumers , as well as the leaps in logic among them. They use all of these strategies in the piece, but exemplify the flaws within them, through a mix of irony, sarcasm. And contrast, in ofer to put it into a far more comedic light

This advertisement, for Reebok, shows six pictures of J.J. Watt pulling weights behind him while running in a football stadium with fire behind him. On the bottom of the advertisement is the text, “PUMP TO FIT. FIT TO IGNITE.”. In the center of the advertisement is a concrete sidewalk with football turf on both sides and Reebok Zpump tennis shoes in the middle of the sidewalk, displaying the little round pump button on the tennis shoes. The thesis for this ad is: Wear these tennis shoes and you will be just as fast and explosive as J.J. Watt is on the football field. The purpose of this ad is to convince the audience to purchase these shoes.