Allen, Allen 1
Emily Allen
Courtney Allen
AP Lang
Walker
9 February 2009
Jackson, Brooks, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. "From Snake Oil to Emu Oil."
Unspun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation . New York: Random
House, 2007. 3-23.
From Snake Oil to Emu Oil Précis
Spin has become an integral part of our society. It surrounds our everyday lives including the
products we buy and the news we hear. Spin has been put to use in almost all forms of communication
and thinking. It has influenced us politically, commercially, and ideologically. Whether the stakes are
inconsequential or life altering, spin is employed to successfully deceive an audience toward a certain
goal. In order to overcome this communication barrier, one must open their eyes to how frequently spin
is used.
Commercial advertising regularly utilizes spin to enhance a product or service. The ability for
advertisers to effectively achieve spin can be explained through the phrases “Prescription-Strength
Malarkey” and “The Profits of Disinformation”. “Prescription-Strength Malarkey” means that
advertisements use malarkey, or exaggerated and foolish talk, to deceive the consumer about the
quality and effectiveness of their product. They use these tactics to sell as much of their product as
possible. The use of such misleading language is effective, as explained through the phrase “The Profits
of Disinformation”. Entire companies have been established on deceiving the consumer. As consumers,
we buy into such advertisements and spend billions of dollars a year on faulty products.
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It is vital that buyers of such products recognize spin in advertisements because “Deception Can
Be Bad For Your Health”. In many cases, fraudulent advertisements can actually put the public in danger.
People often entrust their health to certain products and when they do not deliver as advertised, they
can be physically harmed. To protect ourselves physically, financially, and economically we as
consumers need to be able to weed out all falsehoods in advertisements.
Politicians employ spin in order to get elected and gain public support. The methods they use
include: “Political Snake Oil”, “Prescription-Strength Political Bunk”, and “Voters Deceived”. “Political
Snake Oil” referrers to crude oil. Politicians know petroleum is an important issue and they use crude oil,
deceptive philosophies on petroleum, to gain support. They often propose energy policies that they
know are unattainable but make them seem realistic. In reverse “Prescription-Strength Political Bunk”
refers to how politicians make false claims about their opponent’s policies. They create inaccurate
statistics regarding the opponent’s reform changes, as they enhance their own policies with lies as well.
Due to the miscommunication of information “Voters are Deceived”. The public often believes
inaccurate claims and votes can be swayed a certain way. People tend to believe their party is in the
right and the opposing party is the one deceiving. They find that their party’s ideas are based in truth
and willingly believe lies regarding another party.
However, the accusations of politicians are not always direct. “Bush’s Pack of…Wolves” and “Bin
Laden Baloney” are a few examples of how deception is implied. In 2004 Bush came out with a
commercial in which wolves symbolized terrorists about to attack. He left the audience with the
impression that Kerry wanted to cut intelligence spending, even after September 11th. Bush’s
commercial never truly stated this fact but the impression was clear. The same was true in the case of
“Bin Laden Baloney” when the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 gave the public the false impression that Bush let
family members of Bin Laden leave the United States without interrogation after 9/11.
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The public is never safe from the ambush of spin. It surrounds society in a variety of forms.
Unfortunately, we become the “Unprotected Public” and are shown “No Respect”. Advertisers and
politicians show little consideration for the unfavorable effects of spin on the public. They see such
dishonesty as a necessary mean to an end. With little regulation or legislation against such trickery, the
public truly becomes “unprotected”. As consumers and members of society it is vital that we recognize
spin in all of its forms and look past what is said to the meaning behind every message.