Onion's Rhetorical Analysis Essay

656 Words2 Pages

“The Onion’s” mock press release on the MagnaSoles satirical article effectively attacks the rhetorical devices, ethos and logos, used by companies to demonstrate how far advertisers will go to convince people to buy their products. It does this by using manipulative, “scientific-sounding" terminology, comparisons, fabrication, and hyperboles. For companies to portray the advantages of their products this article shows how heavily hyperbolized their products are, and uses comparisons to attract buyers. Such is portrayed through customer testimonials. For example, the the man whose back pain was relieved after using MagnaSoles. His statement in the article regarding the shoe inserts were clearly fabricated to the point where it was humorous …show more content…

Have you ever walked through CVS or a local drug store looking for skin-care products, and chosen the one with the words “Dermatologist Tested”, or “Clinically Proven” plastered all over it in bold letters? According to Katherine Corkill from PersonalCareTruth.com “The terms create an illusion in the customer's mind that a medical panel of dermatologists somewhere, has investigated the products thoroughly, and perhaps tried it over a period of time before coming to the conclusion of their endorsement.” The meaning of this term amounts to nothing, yet is utilized to offer confidence to the buyers of the item and to give validity. Another example in the “The Onion’s” article is the women who twisted her ankle and couldn’t walk at all and then could suddenly walk after using MagnaSoles …show more content…

The woman who sprained her ankle mentioned that after seven weeks she felt a major decrease in pain and could walk normally once again, but the MagnaSoles inserts had only been released for one week. It continues with more scientific jargon and goes on to talk about the “healing power of crystals to re-stimulate dead foot cells with vibrational biofeedback… a process similar to that by which medicine makes people better.” the logic in this statement can easily be proven wrong because dead cells cannot be brought back to life, and crystals aren’t a real form of medicine. These two examples comes to show how inadequate and naive customers actually are, they’re baited with false information and advertisement, but because scientists are quoted, and scientific literature is being used, they aren’t

Show More
Related

  • Summary: The Gruen Transfer

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rationale This Further Oral Activity will be presented on a T.V. show format (based on the show “The Gruen Transfer”), with the host focusing on the false advertising of well-known health foods and drinks. This FOA will focus on the persuasive language and manipulative strategies used by businesses to influence and mislead consumers into believing false perceptions of their product, using case examples to support the evidence presented. The purpose of this FOA is to inform the audience on the plethora of manipulative and persuasive language used in advertising for ‘supposedly’ healthy products, while the target audience is Australian T.V. viewers 18-50 who are interested in the influence of advertising. The context of the piece is based on today’s world of marketing and how persuasive advertising strategies can influence Australian consumers.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Magnasoles

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Onion’s mock press release markets a product called MagnaSoles. By formulating a mock advertisement a situation is created where The Onion can criticize modern day advertising. Furthermore, they can go as far as to highlight the lucrative statements that are made by advertisements that seduce consumers to believe in the “science” behind their product and make a purchase. The Onion uses a satirical and humorous tone compiled with made up scientific diction to highlight the manner in which consumers believe anything that is told to them and how powerful companies have become through their words whether true or false.

    Read More

  • Herbert's Letter To Grove Press

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    A 1970 advertisement for Grove Press’s Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher features language that Coca-Cola had used in previous advertising campaigns: “It’s the real thing.” In a letter to Grove Press executive Richard Seaver, Ira C. Herbert of Coca-Cola urges Grove to discontinue the use of the phrase. Herbert employs a formal but assertive tone, a rather simplistic essay structure, and a single appeal to logic. In retort, Seaver writes a ridiculing letter which claims that there is no reason to discontinue stop the use of the slogan. The letter refutes each of Herbert’s points, while degrading his position with sarcastic attacks and effectively employing multiple appeals. Thus, Seaver’s letter is the more persuasive of the two.

    Read More

  • Visual Rhetorical Analysis Bmw

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our lives are influenced by visual rhetoric on a daily basis. Rhetorical components go unnoticed unless one is intently searching for them. Companies carefully work visual rhetoric into advertisements and use it to their advantage to lure in potential consumers. The German car company, Bayerische Motoren Werke, or more commonly known as “BMW”, uses a clip from NBC’s Today Show in 1994. In the clip, the characters are discussing the newfangled idea of the internet. BMW uses nostalgia of the 1990’s as bait to attract an older audience who remember the ‘90’s and when the internet was a new invention. BMW uses the rhetorical elements of character, dialogue, and focus to sell their product.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices Used In The Onion

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    How naive are product consumers today? People assume things are factual without questioning the credibility of a person or product. An article in “The Onion” mocks advertisers in a satirical tone to show the bizarre tactics companies use to market their products to customers. The author writes on the topic of “MagnaSoles” shoe inserts, a fictional brand used for his demonstration. He uses devices such as humor, false authority/science, and irony to display the outlandish strategies of advertisers.

    Read More

  • Satire In The Article 'The Onion'

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article The Onion the satire being made criticizes how easily it is for people to believe in an advertised product even though it may be false. The purpose of the writers use of diction, exaggeration, and sarcasm is to make it clear as to how manipulative people have become believing in any products shown in ridiculous advertisement. In this specific article it targets the way an advertisement uses exaggerated stories such as Helene’s or Geoff DeAngelis in order to try to create a connection to an everyday person. Moreover the way they make themselves more credible by their use of a credible source such as the doctors. In total the way an advertisement builds itself to make themselves seem credible to sell their product.

    Read More

  • Satire In Magna Galoles

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Satire is a literary genre based on criticism of people or society, ridicule and mockery are mixed with humour throughout a work of satire. It usually attacks human frailty, people, ideas and institutions. Through celebrities, advertisements and false integrity, products are made to be more believable and influential to consumers. In this present day, consumers are more likely to purchase a product if they see that a celebrity uses it, or it comes with something free or a very low price compared to similar products. The Onion, a publication devoted to humor and satire, satirizes how products are marketed to consumers, through exaggeration of functionality, scientific data, and medical explanations (diction-large words.)

    Read More

  • Wiesel Rhetorical Analysis

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    Along with rhetorical appeals, Wiesel also uses many rhetorical devices such as parallelism and anaphora. Wiesel depicts parallelism when he says, “to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler” (Wiesel lines 103-104). The parallelism and anaphora, in the quote, provide emphasis on the discrimination and abuse that has taken place around the world. Repeating the same initial phrase shows the significance of the words Wiesel is speaking. Wiesel mentions the victims of this extreme tragedy when he states,” for the children in the world, for the homeless for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society.” (Wiesel lines 17-19). This use of anaphora and parallelism emphasize the amount of people the Holocaust has affected and impacted. The parallelism being used adds value to his opinions and balances the list of people Wiesel is making in his speech.

    Read More

  • MagnaSOles

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Satire is the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to expose and criticize people's stupidity”. In the article from a mock press release, "The Onion", represents a new product called “MagnaSoles” which is described as the cheapest way out and is devoted to satirizing the audience in order to emphasize techniques that companies use to get a hold of their consumers. The satire the Onion article uses illustrates how people are unable to properly judge their own flaws, causing them to be gullible and easily deceived to what is in front of their eyes, evidenced by the pseudoscience the article mentions and the deceptive consumer testimonials. The author uses supposedly technical words that prove how people can be easily tricked into believing what they hear from scientific experts is always true. The developer of the product, “Magna Soles”, uses words like “magnetism” and “biomagnetic field” to describe the product, and persuade the consumers that the product is effective; however, the words aren’t being used accurately.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of In The Dove Self-Esteem Project

    1194 Words  | 3 Pages

    In everyday life we are bombarded with advertisements, projects, and commercials from companies trying to sell their products. Many of these ads use rhetorical devices to “convey meaning [,] or persuade” their audiences (Purdue OWL) . Projects, such as the Dove Self-Esteem Project uses native advertising in their commercials, which refers to a brand or product being simultaneously and indirectly promoted. In this essay, I will analyze the rhetorical devices, such as ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos, as well as the fallacies corresponding to each device, that the Dove Company uses in their self-esteem project .

    Read More

  • A Modest Proposal - Rhetorical Analysis Essay

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1729, Jonathan Swift published a pamphlet called “A Modest Proposal”. It is a satirical piece that described a radical and humorous proposal to a very serious problem. The problem Swift was attacking was the poverty and state of destitution that Ireland was in at the time. Swift wanted to bring attention to the seriousness of the problem and does so by satirically proposing to eat the babies of poor families in order to rid Ireland of poverty. Clearly, this proposal is not to be taken seriously, but merely to prompt others to work to better the state of the nation. Swift hoped to reach not only the people of Ireland who he was calling to action, but the British, who were oppressing the poor. He writes with contempt for those who are oppressing the Irish and also dissatisfaction with the people in Ireland themselves to be oppressed.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of A Commercial

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is a compare and contrast rhetorical analysis paper focusing on a print billboard advertisement and television commercial. The billboard advertisement is centered on a smoking death count, sponsored by several heart research associations. In addition, the television Super Bowl commercial illustrates how irresistible Doritos are, set in an ultrasound room with a couple and their unborn child. The following paragraphs will go in depth to interpret the pathos, logos, and ethos of both the billboard and the television advertisements. Clark (2016) suggests that rhetoric isn’t limited to oral communication, but currently has a permanent foothold in written works: magazine or newspaper excerpts, novels, and scientific reports.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices Used In The Onion

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    products are spoken about well. Through the use of repetition and diction author of The Onion satirizes the naivety of consumers when a product is presented. In a mock release from The Onion a product said to “stimulate and soothe the wearers feet” known as Magnasoles is overly exaggerated by an overflow of information explaining “It's not just a shoe insert”. Certain words and the way they are used can spark interest into consumers causing them to want to learn more about a product slowly reeling them in on what makes the product unique and the benefits it provides.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.

    Read More

More about Onion's Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Open Document