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False ethos would be making it seem like a person or a product has credibility and authority when it really does not even exist. This shows up multiple times throughout this satire. The Onion uses credible people to sell the product such as “Dry. Arthur Blunt” This is false ethos because he is not a real doctor, yet some people might believe what he is saying because his title is “Dry. ” (Line 9). It also has statements from another man that has the title of “Dry. ” named “Dry. Wayne Franken” (Line 41), which ivies the product false ethos appeal as well.
Then the Onion uses reviews from different “costumers” that have “used” the Manganese product and uses their good reviews on the product as an ethos appeal. Some of the reviews stated I twisted my ankle something awful a few months ago, and the pain was so bad, I could barely walk a single step,’ said Helene Kuhn of Edison, NJ. ‘But after wearing Mismanages for seven weeks, Eve noticed a significant decrease in pain and can now walk comfortably. Just try to prove that Mismanages didn’t heal me! ” (Line 56). This “review’ s meant for ethos because it shows that this so called product actually works and that actual people have used it.
The author added where this woman was from to make it seem more real and it worked. But the issue is that with a twisted ankle, that usually heels within a few weeks so she said she wore the product for seven weeks and felt a significant difference but it could have Just been the natural heeling process, not the Mismanages. Also before this review was put down in this writing, the author states that that Mismanages were “released less than a week ago’ (Line 2). This proves that it is false ethos because Helene Kuhn said she had been wearing them for seven weeks, yet the product was Just released a few weeks ago.
False logos is another appeal that appears in this satire writing. This shows up towards the end right before the reviews, but this is what gives away the whole satire. The doctor that did research on this product states “Special resonator nodules implanted at key spots in Mismanages convert the wearer’s own energy to match the Earths natural vibration rate of 32. 805 Californians. ” What gives away the falseness of his statement is the type of “measurement” called “Californians” (Line 48). This is obviously false because the name of the doctor doing the research is “Dry.
Wayne Franken” so the audience can see that he made this unit of measurement up and named it after himself. At first it seems like a legitimate thing but then it says “Californians” and the audience can clearly notice. The purpose of this is to make it so the reader Just sees research and numbers to make it seem believable but then give almost confuse and trick the reader. By using this appeal, it makes it seem as though his product is fancy and it is well known and researched thoroughly. Some Jargon used is “pseudoscience” (Line 5).
This is “fake science” but if the reader did not know the prefix “pseudo’ meant, then they most likely will be even more convinced that this product is legitimate. Another place where Jargon is shown is when Dry. Arthur Blunt states “Its patented Magna- Grid design, which features more than 200 geometrically aligned Contour points, actually soothes while it heals, restoring the foot’s natural bio flow’ (Line 1 1) This is Jargon, or technical language because as a reader, and not any rotor of scientist, it is very hard to understand what this statement actually means.
Yet, since this statement is coming from a “doctor”, it is actually believable especially from a student’s prospective, there is nothing at first that blatantly shows that this is a satire and the product is not real. Although there are many appeals used in this satire to try to make it seem like this product is a real thing, there are some things that give away the fact that Mismanages are fake. Some of the things are when the author states that there is “pseudoscience” (Line 5). This gives it away if the reader now’s that the definition of “pseudo’ means fake.
It basically is saying, “fake science”. That is one thing that gives the satire away. Another thing is when the author states “According to scientific-sounding literature… ” This shows that the product fake and that the author is unsure of whether or not this product and research is actually scientific. There are many other types of appeals and fallacies that give this away throughout the reading but between them are hidden appeals that make this product seem real at the same time, and that is how the author gets the reader.