15+ Times Gullible People Fell For Obvious Satire

Ada Elder

Jul 22, 2023 5:00 PM EDT

Being gullible can be something of a curse. As a person who, sadly, falls into that category, I understand the struggle. Most recently, a friend somehow convinced me that newts and salamanders were the "original gummies." He claimed that when cured properly, the critters were satisfyingly chewy, and served as inspiration for Haribo and other gummy candies we know and love. I only found out he was lying a few days later. Thank goodness I didn't tell anyone else this incredibly false fact.

The worst tale I've believed, however, is almost more ridiculous. Back in high school, my friend Gillian came to me with a confession. "My dad and I are addicted to shawarma," she confided. I had never tried shawarma, and listened with concern. "You know, they put nicotine in it," she continued, as my eyes grew wide. My mother was a smoker but I didn't know Big Nicotine had extended its reach to food. I offered my sympathy and support, but Gillian couldn't keep a straight face. Foiled again.

Gullibility also leads to people believing satire - something that even I, Queen Gullible, find incredible. I'm talking about the people who comment on Onion articles expressing their horror and outrage at their "reporting." The satirical news site has been around for 35 years. Get it together, people. Since the Onion has inspired a great many satire sites and social accounts even more gullible individuals have come out of the woodwork. And honestly, we revel in their failure to identify satire. It seems other people do too - there's even a subreddit dedicated to this brand of idiocy. We've gathered some prime examples for your scrolling pleasure, but if you'd like to see more, head over to r/atetheonion. You'll probably end up feeling more intelligent.