Mrs. Breitwieser
AP Language and Composition, Group A
January 13, 2013
Satire
It seems that companies will do anything to get a consumer to buy their product. Through ridiculous marketing schemes companies are always trying to get an upper hand on the rest of the completion. In a mock press release by from The Onion, a publication devoted to humor and satire, the writer uses a variety of techniques to make fun of marketing techniques advertisers use to sale their product. The writer satirizes marketing schemes companies use through the magnificent “MagnaSoles”, a revolutionary new shoe sole that acts like a medicine to heal the human body. By using many different techniques that satirists use, the Onion successfully mocks …show more content…
The first example is when pseudoscientist Dr. Author Bluni, who invented the fake soles, says, “What makes MagnaSoles different from other insoles is the way it harnesses the power of magnetism to properly align the biomagnetic field around your foot.” The writer is mocking how in most ads you see, a guy with a credible name will be backing up the product, when really the guy has no knowledge of how the product works at all. He is using an appeal to a higher authority to give the soles credibility, but ironically a fake scientist backs them. Another example of the writer poking fun at an n appeal to a higher authority is when Geoff DeAngellis gives his testimony on the soles saying, “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?" The writer is clearly using this appeal to a higher authority to mock how consumers really believe a product works because an “intelligent looking man” endorsed it with no knowledge for the product or the guy backing it up. This is using satire through the use of an appeal to a higher authority by showing how ridiculously stupid consumers can be. By using an a appeal to a higher authority the writer satirizes the main thing that is wrong about most ads, in that they use only intelligent looking guys with impressive names and not actual intelligent guys to back their