A completely factual statement like “my daily observations support the theory that sales of large pick-up trucks in The Netherlands have grown, while I can not observe a matching growth in business development that could explain the increased need for such vehicles” would be read by exactly no one.
A joke based in truth catches people’s attention and draws them to read essentially the same thing I said above.
A rhetorical device, sure. But we are on a discussion forum here, not in an economics paper.
Have you measured the penis size of every large vehicle owner, published your findings, and had them peer reviewed?