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2A1
This mock press release from The Onion effectively satirizes the ways in which
products are marketed to consumer by lauding a product called MagnaSoles. The author
employs the techniques of endorsement by so-called experts who lack credibility,
overstatement, and use of confusing but authentic sounding scientific terms.
First of all, the MagnaSoles article uses quotations from so-called experts in order
to lend credence to the effectiveness of the product. By quoting a “pseudoscientist” and a
“biotrician who discovered Terranometry,” the article suggests that companies often use
testimonies of experts who are either biased toward the product with investment in its
success, of inaccurate sources who lack credibility. Clearly, these “scientists” lack
objectivity toward the product because they helped design it, and the fact that they are
referred to as “pseudoscientist” and “biotrician” illustrates that often testimonies come
from sources who lack knowledge or expertise on the subject for which they provide
information.
Secondly, the article satirizes methods of advertising through overstatement. This
hyperbolic language represents the fact that advertisements may exaggerate the benefits
of a product. When this article mentions that a foot sole has the ability to “heal your
entire body as you walk,” the author is satirizing the often-improbable outcomes an
advertisement may promise. Another example of this strategy is in the article’s reference
to crystals that have the power to regenerate dead cells. Clearly, this is an impossible
feat. Yet the author is pointing out how appeal marketers appeal to consumers by
exaggeration or fabricating a product’s merits.
Another strategy used to satirize how products are marketed to consumers is the
use of difficult words to lend credibility to the testimony. This terminology, however,
may not actually have scientific or relevant meaning. For example, the articles references
“special resonator nodules” and the “vibrational rate of 32.805 kilofrankels.” This
complex-sounding terminology is included to impress the reader and give the article an
air of credibility. In actuality, however, these terms lack meaning. The author furthers
this point by mentioning “scientific-sounding literature trumpeting the new insoles,” to
insinuate that more difficulty vocabulary does not necessarily lend credibility to a
statement. This technique is often employed by marketers hoping to impress a consumer.
In conclusion, this article from The Onion effectively identifies misleading
information that advertisements may present to the public: testimony from “experts”
lacking true credibility, overstatement with hyperbolic language to exaggerate a product’s
merit, and difficult vocabulary and scientific terminology that in fact lacks real meaning
and relevance to the product. The numerous strategies by which these fallacies are
presented accurately represent how products are marketed to consumers.
AP Central Comments:
 Succinct, but does not linger
 Don’t pound one idea to death
 Need diversity of examples
 Strongly implied global
 Good vocab