God bless the goddamn Onion

lmao

beautiful

http://www.theonion.com/articles/8yearold-accidentally-exercises-second-amendment-r,725/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/we-raise-all-our-beef-humanely-on-open-pasture-and,30983/

I was eating when I read this :(

it was chicken and bacon though so that's alright

http://store.theonion.com/p-5045-cheat-to-win-bracelet.aspx

http://www.theonion.com/articles/teenage-girl-blossoming-into-beautiful-object,31061/?ref=auto#pq=0AYP2b

http://www.theonion.com/articles/top-9-black-plague-fails,31103/

THESE GUYS HAVE BOILS ALL OVER THEIR BODY! SMH

I could barely get through the hilariously, defiantly stupid article on dog politics, it was so funny.

^^^^^^^had me rollin

"rebarks"

hahahaha http://www.theonion.com/articles/look-im-just-going-to-say-it-i-collect-antique-naz,31172/

that one was partic funny to headread in his voice

http://o.onionstatic.com/images/19/19400/original/700.hq.jpg?0490

http://www.theonion.com/articles/ask-a-boyfriend-who-just-might-dig-himself-out-of,31062/

this kinda killed me

that obama one is great.

That boyfriend one is awesome. A bit too painfully "funny cos its true" as well, heh.

captured the bam voice pretty perfectly

the "and gay people" addendum rang true.

this one was good too:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/ask-a-closeted-homosexual-riverboat-captain,30838/

And I always have to listen to you talk about your job

looool

Painfully close to home

by which I mean the closeted riverboat captain obviously...

except I'm not gay, haha!

http://www.theonion.com/articles/ask-an-elderly-black-woman-as-depicted-by-a-sophom,29855/

^ all time

wow

that was too painful for me to finish reading.

Final answer the best one

American Citizens Split On DOJ Memo Authorizing Government To Kill Them

http://literallyunbelievable.org/post/42518714478/ive-never-seen-a-news-station-post-an-onion

Onion posts article about a PR firm urging the US to disown the state of Alabama. Reporter at the NBC station in Montgomery sees a real PR firm name used and contacts them LIKE IT IS REAL NEWS. Internet erupts. The Onion even comments on the station's fb page: http://www.facebook.com/WSFA12/posts/374043562693617?comment_id=1914203&offset=0&total_comments=67

The Onion In over 240 years of journalism, The Onion has never made a mistake in its reporting, and we regret to hear that Hill + Knowlton is publicly reneging on their prior statement.

The Onion suggests that, in the future, Hill + Knowlton consider hiring a PR firm to help them navigate situations such as this one.
about an hour ago · Unlike · 22

The Onion used the name of a real PR firm? Next thing you'll be trying to tell me that Joe Biden is a real politician.

This is good stuff

It is a joke. A VERY DIS TASTEFUL AND DIS RESPECTFUL JOKE.

I assume that was you who just linked to the Hustler vs. Falwell case. Good job!

It was!

They went on the air with it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K1t4uGHhxo

"Alabama seceding from america because we give the rest of the country a bad name..."

That's not what the article was about.

Serious lols at that news segment's typo in the quote from the onion editorial staff.
Learn how to C&P, Alabama.

"I guess you have to live outside of Alabama to find that fake article funny."

It was a real article, Brainy Smurf. It might have been satire, but the article was real.
And the first three people I saw post it on Facebook yesterday live in Alabama.

the anchor came off as genuinely hurt by the article

"I guess it's funny if you live in NEW YORK CITY ...*sniff*"

Here's the back and forth I had with the anchor today:

Mark Bullock - WSFA 12 News I love The Onion! Follow it on Twitter. But this post was a bit much. Quoting an actual PR firm and real people for a fictituous article is irresponsible. Since the whole thing is fake, why didn't they just use fake names?

JF Mark, great point! Why don't they also just refer to Jim Boden and Borak Otama and Greg Boosh when doing their political stories?

JF i.e. go brush up on the definition of satire again, MEDIA PERSON.

Mark Bullock - WSFA 12 News Hi [JF]! To answer your post, no, if one's satire is critical of the president, you would not use a fake name like Borak Otama. That's silly. Similarly, The Onion satire that criticized Alabama did not use a fake name like Alattama. But for some reason, it did use a real PR firm's name.

JF Right, the Onion consistently uses real names/businesses/cities/states/countries/et al. Why would they, just this one time, create a fake PR firm instead of just going on google and looking for a real one based in the state? SATIRE!

JF The line between satire and fiction is pretty simple. In fiction, you can either draw inspiration from real world things and cleverly alter the names or make things up altogether. In satire, you utilize real world things/persons to critique whatever it is you are critiquing. The Onion doesn't traffic in fiction. It traffics in satire, hence the use of a real PR firm as the story's main player instead of a made-up one.

Mark Bullock - WSFA 12 News The PR firm is not based in Alabama.

JF Fair enough, then. Whether it is or isn't a firm based in Alabama is not a chief detail here. It's why a reporter for WSFA felt the need to reach out to, what we now know is, an out-of-state PR firm to get a reaction on a satirical article that she must've believed was legitimate at some point. If they'd been an in-state business, like I think was mentioned somewhere earlier, I might buy some of the "aw shucks" replies from the station so far, but now it's clear that the firm's relationship to the state is tenuous at best and ONLY connected through the piece on The Onion. That's enough to make me believe Jenn Oravet got good and hoodwinked this morning.

Mark Bullock - WSFA 12 News Thanks for the exchange of ideas, [JF]! Hopefully our viewers who would not normally have seen The Onion's satire were enlightened by this thread and by Jennifer Oravet's story. It's always good to know how you are viewed from the outside. Good luck in the biz!

Just saving this for posterity.

textbook pass-aggery to sign off from Mark there, respect

Haha, right?

Demerits for using 'reach out', though. Whenever I see that in correspondence, it creeps me out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO17B-ACRn0

What if the actual target of the satire wasn't Alabama but.... PR firms?

makes you think

I do wonder why they used a real PR firm, not that it matters. Would the effect been lost had they said "Harper + Phillips"?

I've only noticed it a few times, but every time I've noticed my home state mentioned, they say the guy works in a screen-door factory. There are no screen-door factories here. There isn't even a "Hope Springs."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/miracle-of-birth-occurs-for-83-billionth-time,775/

http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-settled-for,4037/

Is there a submarine factory? Maybe it's a two-level joke.

Now that's satire!