# Getting whooshed by the Onion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018 "2006-07-11T13:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/1 "2006-07-11T13:34:08Z")
So I was pointed to [this pro-life blogger](http://marchtogether.blogspot.com/2006/07/murder-without-conscience.html) who was reacting to an article in “[the Onion](http://www.theonion.com/), an online magazine.” :smack: I have no words. I thought I remembered Ann Landers or Dear Abby falling for an Onion article years back, address how the _Harry Potter_ novels were inducting America’s children into Satanism at astonishing rates and how you as parents can keep your loved ones off this slippery slope. (I _thought_ I remembered it, but I can’t seem to google it now. The usually helpful [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/potter.htm) does nothing. Perhaps I’ve been whooshed by a Snopes article about people getting whooshed by an Onion article?) What other instances have you seen, of people falling for articles from the Onion? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/2 "2006-07-11T13:45:13Z")
Probaly the most famous case of this was the Onion’s article about how “Harry Potter” was turning kids to Satanism. Years later, the article is still being circulated in right-wing Christian circles as a legitimate article. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/3 "2006-07-11T14:16:43Z")
The Beijing Evening News reprinted an Onion story about Congress threatening to move to another city unless Washington, DC built them a new Capitol. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/4 "2006-07-11T14:22:06Z")
That’s the most famous, but I liked the one about the Chinese news service picking up the Onion article about Congress threatening to leave Washington if they weren’t built a new Capitol building. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/5 "2006-07-11T14:22:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Probaly the most famous case of this was the Onion’s article about how “Harry Potter” was turning kids to Satanism. Years later, the article is still being circulated in right-wing Christian circles as a legitimate article. Has there been any liberals that got fooled by the Onion? I hear about phelps and the gay agenda and the harry potter story thing. Also, Wouldn’t people have known that onion is a satire magazine? I mean, the fact that the magazine calls itself “Onion” should tip you off that it is not a serious magazine. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/6 "2006-07-11T14:37:20Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > Has there been any liberals that got fooled by the Onion? I hear about phelps and the gay agenda and the harry potter story thing. > Also, Wouldn’t people have known that onion is a satire magazine? I mean, the fact that the magazine calls itself “Onion” should tip you off that it is not a serious magazine. “The Onion” isn’t all that silly. There’s a legitimate newspaper called the Sacramento Bee. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/7 "2006-07-11T14:45:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “The Onion” isn’t all that silly. There’s a legitimate newspaper called the Sacramento Bee. Well, I guess you are right. However, seeing how THE ONION has been around for quite some time, I thought most people would know it is a satire. And I would imagine that reading some of the articles would clue people in that it is not a serious magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/8 "2006-07-11T14:47:14Z")
[Beijing’s biggest newspaper was fooled once](http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53048,00.html) by a story about [Congress threatening to move to another city unless a new capitol dome is built](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27828). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/9 "2006-07-11T14:59:53Z")
Paper copies of _The Onion_ are distributed in only a few cities. So I would not be surprised if someone outside those cities would not have heard of it, especially someone over 40. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/10 "2006-07-11T16:37:56Z")
Didn’t I read something about a Chinese newspaper picking up the _Onion_ story about Congress saying they would leave Washington if they weren’t given a new Capitol building? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/11 "2006-07-11T16:44:37Z")
The Onion once spoofed the extortionate practice of sports teams demanding that their cities build them new stadiums, under the threat of leaving the city of they didn’t. Their spoof involved the Federal Government threatening to leave DC if the city didn’t build them new facilities. I believe an asian newspaper picked up this story and ran it as genuine. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/12 "2006-07-11T16:46:19Z")
I believe there was a case where a Chinese newspaper believed a story that Congress threatened to move unless a new Capitol building was built for them was believed to be true in a Chinese newspaper. Just once. In 2002. For 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/13 "2006-07-11T16:50:48Z")
Remeber the time that the Bejing Evening News was duped into believeing that Onion article about Congress threatening to leave unless they built a new capitol dome? Man, that was the best… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/14 "2006-07-11T16:52:24Z")
Didn’t Chinese papers once reprint as factual a story in The Onion about Congress threatening to move if we didn’t build them a new Capitol? ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/15 "2006-07-11T17:12:55Z")
**Rio** , by Duran Duran ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/16 "2006-07-11T17:13:13Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Remeber the time that the Bejing Evening News was duped into believeing that Onion article about Congress threatening to leave unless they built a new capitol dome? > > Man, that was the best… [DARIA]And it happened at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.[/DARIA] When come back, bring fresh jokes & pie. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/17 "2006-07-11T17:25:45Z")
I’m pro-life and damn, that’s embarrassing. Not like that Chinese thing, though. Does anyone with a better memory than me remember the details on that? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/18 "2006-07-11T17:36:34Z")
I understand one of Congress’s complaints was that the old dome offered insufficient protection against 1920’s style death-rays. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/19 "2006-07-11T17:38:11Z")
> [@vaderspal](#): > > **Rio** , by Duran Duran I don’t know why, but I’m laughing the hardest at this post. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018/20 "2006-07-11T17:40:13Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I don’t know why, but I’m laughing the hardest at this post. Did I win my first Doper stripe today? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-whooshed-by-the-onion/364018.md?page=2)