What The Onion’s purchase of InfoWars can teach us about executive comms

Though the premise of this story falls in line with something satirical publication The Onion might publish, this news is real: The Onion has purchased Alex Jones’ notorious right-wing conspiracy content site InfoWars, with plans of relaunching it next year as a satire of its former self.

According to a report from the AP, The Onion won the rights to Infowars in a bankruptcy auction resulting from the $1 billion ruling against Jones for defaming family members of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting. The purchase was reportedly done with the blessing of the Sandy Hook families, and includes plans for the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety will advertise on the new, joke version of Infowars.

In typical Onion fashion, the satire site confirmed the purchase in a blog post from the totally real and not-at-all fictional CEO of The Onion’s parent company Global Tetrahedron, “Bryce P. Tetraeder”, who outlined why the move was made:

Founded in 1999 on the heels of the Satanic “panic” and growing steadily ever since, InfoWars has distinguished itself as an invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses. With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal. They are a true unicorn, capable of simultaneously inspiring public support for billionaires and stoking outrage at an inept federal state that can assassinate JFK but can’t even put a man on the Moon.

The purchase includes the rights to the Infowars video archive, social media accounts, website, and studio in Austin, Texas.

Why it’s important

Whenever a big shift in the media landscape happens, communicators take notice. But one like this is particularly notable.

The Onion, long known for lampooning people and symbols of power in American society, simultaneously made a joke out of Jones and his vitriolic content mill by shutting it down and providing the proceeds to the Sandy Hook families that he so disgustingly disparaged. But The Onion took it even a step further with its plans to relaunch Infowars as a satire of its former self.

Here at Ragan, we write a lot about sticking to your organizational values. What that means obviously differs pretty greatly by company. But seeing The Onion do right by both the Sandy Hook families in making this purchase AND nailing a pretty great joke? That lines up on two levels. Even the blog post The Onion released from it’s “CEO” has the fingerprints of “America’s Finest News Source” all over it.

When big change happens, stick to your morals and your company values when you’re communicating about it. You stand a pretty good chance of getting it right that way.

The real executive comms play

While Bryce P. Tetraeder doesn’t exist, Ben Collins, the CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, very much does. Collins made the media rounds yesterday, telling The New York Times:

“We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” Mr. Collins said. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers and everything’s kind of insane.”

Mr. Collins said that the families of the victims were supportive of The Onion’s bid because it would put an end to Mr. Jones’s control over the site, which has been a fount of misinformation for years. He said they were also supportive of using humor as a tool for raising awareness about gun violence in America.

“They’re all human beings with senses of humor who want fun things to happen and want good things to take place in their lives,” Mr. Collins said. “They want to be part of something good and positive too.”

With a fake CEO’s inflated satirical message complementing Collins’ real and immediate explanation of strategy, The Onion boosted its purpose and brand affinity in one satiric swoop.

Building off the values espoused ironically in the publication’s most popular and recurring fake headline, “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens”, this is an example of an executive comms play where form follows function, function ties back to purpose, and brand identity is harnessed for good.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.

Justin Joffe is the editorial director and editor-in-chief at Ragan Communications. Follow him on LinkedIn.