I clicked on a few random references. Several use The Onion to establish "Cultural Significance": the logic seems to be that if something is well-known enough

I clicked on a few random references. Several use The Onion to establish "Cultural Significance": the logic seems to be that if something is well-known enough for The Onion to mock, it has a reasonable amount of cachet. Clever, as I doubt there are many sources that literally report "X is a household name."