“Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.” An article by The Onion, a news satire organization, humorously reveals the sly strategies used by companies to sell their products. The article introduces a “brand new, cutting edge” product: The MagnaSoles, shoe inserts that will supposedly change your life forever. (Transition) The article’s satirical nature pokes fun at how companies market their products and aids in exposing the gulibility of consumers, the exaggeration of facts and use of scientific language, and the power of testimony in today’s advertising.
The flippant structure of the article brings to light how companies utilize consumer gullibility to sell their products. Towards the beginning of the article, the author states that MagnaSoles will “heal your entire body as you walk.” This “cure-all” (quotes needed?) description lures consumers by not only giving them their pain solution, but also solving many more of their problems as well. Companies today often add extras to heighten the appeal of their products, giving the consumer multiple reasons their product is worth-while. Also, the low price offers “a welcoming alternative to expensive, effective forms of tradtional medicine” used to treat foot pain. The low cost draws consumers due to the frugal attitudes in today’s economy, but the article reveals the ineffectiveness of the product despite this amazing deal. The credulous nature of customers allows companies to distract them from the truth by introducing an almost unbelievable bargain. Obviously, $19.95 is not enough to create an antidote to cure the entire body, so the author mocks the naivety of the product’s audience. Finally, the author end...
... middle of paper ...
...tion. Finally, the article closes with a testimony from a consumer who, “after wearing MagnaSoles for seven weeks,” noticed a decrease of pain in her hurt ankle. But, this presents incongruity with another statement claiming the product was “released less than a week ago.” Although testimonies provide confidence for the consumer, they are often not backed with proven information and possess inconruities.
The article jocolsely exposes how companies market products to consumers, exploiting the gulibility of consumers, the exaggeration of facts and use of scientific language, and the power of testimony. The article effectively shows how “scientific-sounding” advertisements can attract customers and distill a false-sense of reliability in the product. The article also includes a multitude of puns, further mocking the seriousness of advertisements in today’s marketing
Recently, another weight loss supplement has stepped into the ever-increasing market. This drug, called Stimulife 750, is a supposedly all-natural herbal supplement that promotes weight loss without any effort from the client. Both the parent company – Stimulife International – and various distributors of Stimulife 750 make bold blanket statements such as “Stimulife 750 has everything good and nothing bad,” which set the success of the pill far higher than is possible. Furthermore, these individuals attempting to sell the product use a variety of marketing techniques to encourage purchasing the supplement; however, they provide no scientific evidence to support the claims they make regarding the safety and effectiveness of the product. By appealing to the clients’ desire for a natural and easy way to lose weight, providing pseudo-scientific statements to convey a sense of authenticity to the product, and befriending the client by seeming to care for their best interests, the distributers attempt to woo more clients. However, Stimulife 750 contains many ingredients included in other “unsafe” weight loss supplements and scientific research shows no clear evidence that Stimulife 750 is any more effective or safe as other diet pills.
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 to the readers. He said, “Why should I pay thousands of dollars to have my spine realigned with physical therapy when I can pay twenty dollars for insoles clearly endorsed by an intelligent-looking man in a white lab coat?” This statement shows how blinded and gullible customers are when presented with false advertisement. Have you ever walked through CVS or a local
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.
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs, the marketing behind pills, and the use of media outlets.
Jean Kilbourne is passionate about an array of topics when it comes to advertising, but her message is clear: we cannot escape advertisements and they are influencing our minds. Socialization and the Power of Advertising illustrates this using children and consumerism. Killing Us Softly 4’s main example is women. Either way, advertisements are negatively impacting us and, as Kilbourne points out, it’s getting worse. Whatever the solution is, we have to put an end to the experience of being immersed in an advertising
Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.
Today’s commercials cloud the viewers’ brains with meaningless ritzy camera angles and beautiful models to divert viewers from the true meaning of the commercials. The advertisers just want consumers to spend all of their hard-earned money on their brand of products. The “Pepsi” and “Heineken” commercials are perfect examples of what Dave Barry is trying to point out in his essay, “Red, White and Beer.” He emphasizes that commercial advertisements need to make viewers think that by choosing their brands of products, viewers are helping out American society. As Rita Dove’s essay “Loose Ends” argues, people prefer this fantasy of television to the reality of their own lives. Because viewers prefer fantasy to reality, they become fixated on the fantasy, and according to Marie Winn in “Television Addiction,” this can ultimately lead to a serious addiction to television. But, one must admit that the clever tactics of the commercial advertisers are beyond compare. Who would have thought the half naked-blondes holding soda cans and American men refusing commitment would have caught viewers’ attention?
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs and the efficient usage of media outlets.
Everyone is in a consumer’s hypnosis, even if you think you are not. When you go to a store and pick one brand over the other, you are now under their spell. The spell/ hypnosis is how companies get you to buy there things over other companies and keep you hooked. Either through commercials or offering something that you think will make your life better by what they tell you. For example, you go to the store and you need to buy water, once you get to the lane and look, there is 10 different types of water you can buy. You go pick one either because the picture is better or you seen the commercial the other day and you want it. During the length of this paper we will talk about two important writers, Kalle Lasn the writer of “The Cult You’re in” and Benoit Denizet-Lewis writer of “ The Man Behind Abercrombie & Fitch”. They both talk about similar topics that go hand and hand with each other, they talk about the consumers “Dream”, how companies recruit the consumers, who cult members really are, how people are forced to wear something they don’t want, and about slackers.
Advertising (marketing) in America is long past its zenith. There may have been a time when people actually paid attention to all of the flash, the glitz, and the hype, but most consumers (especially those in Generation X) are savvy and somewhat skeptical. The public is less impressed and views these types of marketing attempts as desperate, and even pathetic. Marlboro Friday (977) may stand out as a monumental day in the minds of advertisers, but there is another moment that stands out in the minds of consumers; the night a woman disrobed during half-time show at the Super Bowl. It was as if time stood still as a nation witnessed advertising shorn of its pretense. This one event exposed the true state of marketing in America. It seems every attempt to hoodwink and capture the attention of the population has already been tried; there is nowhere new to go. Stooping to nudity to try and capture the attention of the public confirms what the consumer already knows; it doesn’t matter how firms try and “clothe” their products; underneath they are all the same.
Furman, B., (1997). “Trendy Traditional Medicine for a Modern Age.” San Diego Business Journal 10 Mar. 1997: A7-8. Retrieved: February 13, 2011, from: www.oppapers.com/subjects/diego-rod/
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 .
MagnaSoles are shoe inserts that claim to heal more than just the feet, but the body as a whole. It’s a made-up product featured in a The Onion article, a website that’s known for ridiculing society. In this article, The Onion satirizes product marketing and it’s consumers with a mocking tone through the use of sarcasm, parody, and faulty science.
Alternative medicine has long been scoffed at by the mainstream medical community. People who use it, or at least believe in its benefits, are termed “wacky.” Physicians even go so far as to tell curious patients not to bother with the alternative “insanity,” claiming only hippies and desperados use it. Doctors are trusted daily with the lives of their patients, and if a doctor insists on a specific treatment, and advises against another, patients will be more than likely to do as they are told. But if a natural therapy has a positive effect on disease, then why not use it? Why not keep patients informed on all fronts: offer the details on every treatment that has shown promise, whether it pads the pharmaceutical companies’ pockets or not.
In recent years, the exposure of pill-peddling pharmaceutical companies and the dangers- such as the various toxins and the risk of dependence- that their manufactured drugs pose on the body has turned more and more people of the western world back to basics for their health care. Richard L. Nahin from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine states that according to the institute’s latest research, "It's clear that millions of Americans every year are turning to complementary and alternative medicine."