The Mocks Of The MagnaSoles Shoes In The Onion
In a press release by The Onion, using no “fewer than five 5 forms of pseudoscience” uses various rhetorical devices to push its new treatment product: MagnaSoles shoe inserts. Using MagnaSoles shoes as a model, the article mocks the way the company strategizes. How the products are falsely advertised and presented. The products have attracted many susceptible customers especially Americans who are easily persuaded. Using exaggeration or sarcasm tone shows the ignorance in American consumption. And it’s complicated but pointless wording has allowed the readers a taste of the tactics used in today’s popular advertising.
The article opens up and immediately insults Americans. The MagnaSoles shoe inserts are suited best to the 'stressed and sore-footed Americans', which stimulate and 'soothes while it heals, restoring the foot's natural bioflow.” Americans are buzzing over the product that is being considered as the new treatment for foot injuries. The article mocks the product by using extremely sophisticated and confusing words. Using complicated words that attract many susceptible customers is deemed to be the smart way. The MagnaSoles inserts are made up of terms such as 'reflexology' and “'kilofrankels' when describing the effect of the MagnaSoles shoe insert. Such complicated language appeals to those who cannot comprehend that the product is used to attract attention and are easily manipulated by intelligent-sounding words when said by someone who claims to be an expert.
Another way the article mocks the product is the customer’s thought process of buying. The inserts are only placed on the market for '$19.95” which “ already proves popular among consumers, who are hailing them as a welcome alternative to 55 expensive, effective forms of traditional medicine.” This cheap price would allow Americans to buy more for a cheaper price. However, The Onion has its own shoe inserts priced at twenty dollars to insult the American thought process. Buying something cheap that is based on “pseudoscientist” sounds very promising. Geoff DeAngelis who was a chronic back-pain sufferer was impressed. He said, “why should I pay thousands of dollars to have my spine realigned with physical therapy when I can pay $20 for insoles clearly endorsed by an intelligent-looking man in a white lab coat.” Here we can see that his being sarcastic and mocking the false information that people will believe that as long it is presented by someone who looks like “an intelligent-looking man in a white lab coat” suggests that the public assumes that whatever that man is saying must be true. To show how American consumers who buy things that are advertised in a way that sounds “smart”, without realizing the products are made up of “pseudoscientists”.
Through intricate but pointless diction, The Onion article highlights how far advertist will go to convince people into buying their improbable products. With its use of manipulative, scientific-sound terminology, MagnaSoles shoe inserts seem to be working and those who are easily persuaded would consider ordering a pair.
