The Onion buys rightwing conspiracy theory site Infowars with plans to make it ‘very funny, very stupid’
The Onion buys rightwing conspiracy theory site Infowars with plans to make it ‘very funny, very stupid’
Satirical news outlet purchases media platform run by Alex Jones at a court-ordered auction
Here’s Why I Decided To Buy ‘InfoWars’ By Bryce P. Tetraeder, Global Tetrahedron CEO ☞ https://theonion.com/heres-why-i-decided-to-buy-infowars/
And let me say, I really do see it as a family. Much like family members, our brands are abstract nodes of wealth, interchangeable assets for their patriarch to absorb and discard according to the opaque whims of the market. And just like family members, our brands regard one another with mutual suspicion and malice.
🤣
Will anyone visiting know the difference?
Counterpoint, it was already stupid.
Yes, but this time it will be on purpose.
Is it The Onion? Or Not the Onion?
Yes
Fucking awesome. Onion has been hitting it hard lately, and this is just the cherry on top. I am hopeful this makes some chuds question their minds.
They should harness the crazy for good. Make conspiracy theory-sounding stories, but make them factual and get people to take positive action.
"They created chemicals you can inject into the bloodstream that keeps them from getting the Measels."
"The overlords in their golden towers want to tell you who you are and aren't allowed to love."
The vaccine one would probably be better as: “independent thinking researchers developed a means of using your own body’s immune response to prevent diseases with a mere injection. Some of them even refused to patent it. But then the media started lying to you about them, trying to get you to stop accepting these miracles? Why, just so some companies could make more money selling you proprietary snake oil to keep you comfortable while you’re sick.”
Coming from a reformed conspiracy theorist, that was frighteningly good.
Big Essential Oil ruining the day again.
This is brilliant. Please send them an email with this idea.
I'm totally for this and I bet it would work, too. We've seen the level of ignorance that went into how people chose to vote. If OnionWars puts up those kinds of stories, along with the occasional article declaring Jones actually still owns InfoWarts and any news stating otherwise is fake, they could ease these nutjobs back to sanity.
I would love this.
The funniest piece is going to be seeing old followers believe it’s still the InfoWars they know and love. It took forever for people to stop eating the onion in large numbers, and it still manages to happen on occasion.
There is opportunity here. Initially, anyway.
A part of me actually wished that the Onion would have purchased InfoWars, but in secret, like maybe under a subsidiary corp that has a right-wing sounding name.
They don't change Infowars' branding or anything but the articles become subtly liberal.
Maybe an overt purchase is better but I really want to troll the right.
"Do your swastikas send the right message to your neighbors? Maybe try this instead..."
I don’t think they have to. People are going to consume it like it’s the same old. Inertia and assumption.
YESS!
Looks like it's been down since January. Do you think people are still trying it?
I still have OSINT on my podcast roll even though Bazzell quit. Maybe it’ll come back? I’m sure others have done the same.
My favorite part of this:
...Collins said that “part of the reason we did bought InfoWars is because people on Bluesky told us it would be funny to buy InfoWars” adding that “those people were right” this “is the funniest thing that has ever happened”.
That also sounds like the kind of prank that Cards Against Humanity would pull if they had access to as much cash. I love this so much.
Wait, what? Which parts of this are satire now? I read the Onion piece that Global Tetrahedron was purchasing InfoWars, but this is a Guardian story saying The Onion is purchasing it? I'm a bit confused.
It's on APNews too - it's real
It's not satire, they are purchasing it for real.
ben also replied saying he'd hold it for knowledge fight, so there's an incredible chance we might see knowledge fight use it at some point.
"Tim onion" got an irl lol out of me
For me, the cherry on top is how the "InfoWars" name is still completely apt, for completely different reasons.
I gotta find out what the Knowledge Fight folks have to say about this.
I am waiting for the next episode to drop. Biggest episode ever.
Reformatting InfoWars as a serious, unironic branch of the Onion that deals with misinformation would just be great.
They should send Alex Jones a $1 "royalty" check every month - just so that he doesn't forget it.
Make it $0.01. No need to waste too much money.
Nah. They should just make sure the checks bounce.
This is what I call a master class on starting a soft revolution: you take over a symbol of the opposite ideology, in the most outrageous and ridiculous way, make it known to all, and completely subvert it and deconstruct it, piece by piece, until it stops making any sense to its former self.
Like the right keeps doing with memes!
and words too. Even words get to mean exactly their antonyms :/
like this?
And CNN
Memes come and go too fast for that.
im sorry but the owner's name is tim onion. please publish a correction.
Through it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron.
Honestly, considering how much of a clown Alex Jones was, they have their work cut out for them if they want to compete at comedic levels!
Either way, this may be the best news I've heard all year, thank you!
I wonder if this gives them the rights to all of Infowars' library of footage. Maybe they could "keep" Jones as a host by cutting up old clips kinda how South Park did with Isaac Hayes for Chef's last episode.
Up for grabs at the auction were Infowars production rights and materials, the Infowars store, domain names, production equipment and other assets — including a Terradyne armored truck and a Winnebago motor home — that can be purchased in their entirety or in parts, according to the firm, ThreeSixty Asset Advisors. Jones broadcasts from the Austin, Texas, area.
One of the few good uses for generative AI I've seen.
This was not on my bingo card.
Gaetz?
i've just read that quote
Oh my god what a power move. More power to them, seriously. Best outcome we could have gotten
Next week's headlines "Alex Jones appointed as Secretary of State" or some other wackass shit.
Press secretary would be perfect.
Saw the news on their YouTube. Looked it up thinking it was satire and sure as shit it’s not. Probably the fastest I’ve ever purchased merch ever. Gonna love wearing my onion shirt, always loved them but this was the point I needed to send them some money because this is hilarious.
Can't wait for Dan and Jordan to cover this
I keep refreshing my pod feed waiting for the next episode.
Info Wars might actually become credible
Wouldn't that be ironic
I genuinely don't know how they plan to make a parody of InfoWars that will not be indistinguishable from the original thing.
The funniest thing to do would be to turn it into either a legitimate leftist new site or a leftist themed nujob conspiracy mill (though I don't know how that would work).
leftist themed nujob conspiracy mill
The Republican party is ripe for conspiracy theory targets.
Epstein had close ties with Trump and his attorney general Bill Barr (whose father hired Epstein to teach at a prestigious private high school without a college degree, where he was known for ogling the high school girls and showing up to parties where underage drinking was happening). The waitresses and hostesses at Trump's Mar a Lago were also regularly recruited to work at Epstein's island. Alex Acosta, the federal prosecutor who agreed to a secret plea deal where Epstein served a slap on the wrist in a local jail instead of real prison was later elevated to Trump's cabinet, as Labor Secretary.
Now, Trump has named another child sex trafficker as his nominee for Attorney General.
There are suspicious ties between the Saudi royal family and key members in Trump's orbit, including his son in law Jared Kushner. Elon Musk has been doing sketchy shit with the Saudis and the Russians, as well. Basically everyone in Trump's circle, including his nominee to be the director of national intelligence, has shady ties with foreign adversaries.
There's lots of other little things about financial profiteering by the Trump folks: an SBA COVID bailout that went to huge businesses, a move to privatize or sabotage the public postal service and the weather service to help the private competition, arbitrary or politically motivated regulations to help certain businesses while hurting others, etc.
I mean, it really wouldn't be hard.
Yes but slowly and using language they're familiar with. Lure them into it
I'm hoping for something similar to what The Colbert Report used to be.
They’re very, very good at it
I for one am excited to see what they are going to do with it.
very funny, very stupid
Well, their work is half done already!
THEY TURNED THE FREAKIN FROG GAY!!!!!!!
ITS NOT FUNNY!!!
They should run it like it was. Then in about a year, just subtly start changing the context. Then before you know it, they are going to start supporting progressive topics.
truly the wildest of timelines
Make reality boring again
This just made my day
Finally some good news!
This is the best thing that's ever happened
Listen, I keep saying that reality is better satire than satire, BUT COME ON!
I thought that was a joke. But regular news sites are running the story. So maybe it's real?
I saw a TikTok of Alex crying about it. It is real.
That's really amazing. Their joke article was hilarious even as a joke. But the fact that they really bought it is beautiful.
It's real. Their new owner is very rich and doesn't give a fuck
Best news I've seen in weeks
Great idea. Who didn't like the Colbert Report? Could turn out like a right-wing populist Repor!
But he's got a serious side. You know what those globalists are doing...
This is fucking hilarious, best news I've heard in forever.
It took me a while to realize this is actually true. Reality is amazing.
Does this mean they're Alex Jones's boss now?
Makes sense. They keep him contained somewhere to ramble, while appropriately inducted and vetted comedians interpret, neutralize and transmit his bullshit and make it funny.
An oracle of comedy situation.
Aside from the official licensing, you essentially just described Knowledge Fight.
Wait, is it real?
I wonder what they paid 🤣
To quote the Onion themselves:
No price would be too high for such a cornucopia of malleable assets and minds. And yet, in a stroke of good fortune, a formidable special interest group has outwitted the hapless owner of InfoWars (a forgettable man with an already-forgotten name) and forced him to sell it at a steep bargain: less than one trillion dollars.
Their adherence to the technically correct is awe-inspiring.
That pushed me over the edge to subscribe to the print edition
I mean, it’s already half way there, all they got to do is make it funny
meaning even more so
Lol I am so happy about this.
Stupid it was all along
Who did they give money to? Maybe it would've been better if they just created a offbrand infowars.
The assets were auctioned off to pay his debt to the families of the Sandy Hook shooting.
So effectively they gave money to the families of children killed in a school shooting that he slandered in cruel and vile ways.Given that the families pretty reasonably dislike him, the added bonus of his creation being used to openly mock him and promote a message they endorse is quality icing on the cake.
One thing the headlines aren't mentioning is that the families actually even helped fund a portion of the Onion's bid.
In order to make the bid work, a lawyer representing the families told CNN that the families “agreed to forgo a portion of their recovery to increase the overall value of the Onion’s bid, enabling its success”.
The sale follows a judge’s order earlier this year for Jones to liquidate his personal assets, to help him to pay off the $1.4bn he was ordered to pay the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting...
I believe this money goes to the victims' families
Probably the money paid for whomever Alex Jones lost lawsuits against -- so like Sandy Hook victims.
It was being auctioned for the victims but there was also the real risk that a supporter would win who would let him he continue on business as usual. So definitely money well spent.
Well they only need to do the first part of that.
Alien diarrhea is the real cause of global warning!
i didn't know that 🤯
So....the onion is now donating money to Alex Jones.
Thats kinda fucked.
It's a bankruptcy auction, and he's bankrupt because he was sued by Sandy Hook families. Some of those families gave money to the Onion to buy InfoWars so Alex Jones is losing his platform and his money.
It sucks for him more than it helps him really.
That's not how bankruptcy filings work
nope
Where did they move? Where is Alex Jones on now?
according to the guardian article, he's complaining on Xitter now
I think he's getting sued or something
This is so weird, I just read a comment on Lemmy where someone said they should do exactly this.
