In recent years, concerns over the psychological effects of advertising and the trappings of consumerism have increased. The Onion uses the fictional product, MagnaSoles, as a model to humorously mock not only the embellished strategies used by companies to market products, but also the susceptible customers who are too quick to accept them as true. The play on legitimacy, depiction of the product as a panacea, and quotes of customer testimonies are used together to give an exaggerated version of a modern advertisement. The play on legitimacy through the description of pseudoscientific techniques and the use of scientific-seeming words criticizes how real advertisements use false statements to make their product seem more groundbreaking and
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The introductory paragraph starts with “stressed and sore-footed Americans everywhere are clamoring for the exciting new MagnaSoles.” The imagery describes America as being in a bad situation and the shoe inserts as the solution. It subtly denounces how companies present their products as meeting so many of the consumers’ needs and how they in turn are overly eager to buy the product. Moreover, the article asserts that their product “[enables] your soles to heal your entire body as you walk.” Advertisers tend to prop their product up on a pedestal of false claims, later unable to fulfil such statements. The article exaggerates this tendency in order to satirize marketing clichés. Throughout the article, appealing words, such as “[restore],” “rejuvenate,” and “restimulate,” are chosen to assure the sole inserts can change one’s life. Commonly associated with revitalization, these words are used in today’s prevalent advertisements in order to appeal to the desire for positive change and a new start. The article criticizes the misleading guarantees made in advertisements and the foolish consumers who want to believe the claims are true. The absurd promises marketers make in modern advertisements are satirized to emphasize their absurdity and ultimately advocate against
The introductory paragraph starts with “stressed and sore-footed Americans everywhere are clamoring for the exciting new MagnaSoles.” The imagery describes America as being in a bad situation and the shoe inserts as the solution. It subtly denounces how companies present their products as meeting so many of the consumers’ needs and how they in turn are overly eager to buy the product. Moreover, the article asserts that their product “[enables] your soles to heal your entire body as you walk.” Advertisers tend to prop their product up on a pedestal of false claims, later unable to fulfil such statements. The article exaggerates this tendency in order to satirize marketing clichés. Throughout the article, appealing words, such as “[restore],” “rejuvenate,” and “restimulate,” are chosen to assure the sole inserts can change one’s life. Commonly associated with revitalization, these words are used in today’s prevalent advertisements in order to appeal to the desire for positive change and a new start. The article criticizes the misleading guarantees made in advertisements and the foolish consumers who want to believe the claims are true. The absurd promises marketers make in modern advertisements are satirized to emphasize their absurdity and ultimately advocate against