Today’s advertising industry, with its flood of products like Shamwow, Oxyclean, and the Bowflex, appears to be challenging the intelligence of Americans by discouraging rational thinking. The Onion cleverly parodies this phenomenon in an ad for MagnaSoles – a new and improved solution priced at $19.95 (plus shipping and handling) for any foot problems one may have. MagnaSoles exploits people’s gullibility by exploiting their reliance on media for information. The commercial entices consumers with its glossy qualities but ultimately traps them by converting their pain into what they believe to be pleasing comfort. This highlights the tendency of the masses to unquestioningly believe biased and manipulated information that bombards their every thought.
The credibility of various subjects, ranging from presidential elections to product endorsements, plays a crucial role in the decision-making process. MagnaSoles, a satirical advertisement, cleverly mocks the effectiveness of ethical appeals. The quote attributed to “Dr. Arthur Bluni” emphasizes the irony in the representation of intelligence by doctors, while readers may fail to realize that he is a doctor of a fictional science. Understanding the meaning of the prefix “pseudo” (indicating something fake) is essential for identifying the flawed logic in this statement. This faulty logic suggests that instead of paying expensive fees for physical therapy to realign the spine, one can simply purchase $20 insoles endorsed by a seemingly intelligent individual wearing a white lab coat. Even though the advertisement avoids directly lying, it can still mislead as these individuals are indeed real doctors, albeit in an invented field of study. Furthermore, to attest to its legitimacy, the product also boasts a trademark. The company’s extensive and possibly tedious process of copyrighting their creation implies its value and protects against theft, thereby indicating its effectiveness.The text highlights the presence of trademarks, such as Pepsi Company’s sodas, McDonalds’ name, and Magnasoles’ Contour PointsTM. Western culture, known for its rapid progress, has traditionally been associated with superior intellect, standard of living, technology, dental hygiene, and various luxuries of life. Practices in the Western Hemisphere for more than eleven years add credibility but should also reassure consumers about the absence of harmful substances like lead or other heavy metals. These appeals to authority mock the way advertisements assert their products’ superiority with unchecked authority and likely pseudoscientific claims. In the Occident, specific professions use specialized language known as “jargon” to effectively communicate their desired goals.
Advertising claims that appearing intelligent and sounding knowledgeable is just as important as being an actual authority on a subject. Without these persuasive words, important tasks would be prolonged and less effective. Specific phrases used within professions act as a framework for their specialized language; these phrases not only save time but also add more detail and influence to the instructions. For example, a phrase like “harmonic energy field rearranges the foot’s atoms, converting pain into comfort” was concocted by pseudoscientists to convince people that using their products will make them feel better. These words sound believable to the general public because of the familiar “-tron” suffix, which implies wide usage. Due to years of brainwashing through advertisements, people often suspend their critical thinking and pretend to be knowledgeable in the seemingly complex language of pseudoscience.
The advertisement for the product “MagnaSoles” has effectively demonstrated the importance of using technical language to save lives and enhance credibility. The success of the advertising campaign in combating the spread of misleading information can be attributed to its transparent approach, which is gradually being counteracted by common sense. The Onion’s humorous and satirical style aptly portrays the lack of intelligence in the advertising industry, unless the pseudoscientific claims suggest otherwise.
