Ideology and Hegemony in Advertising

            I have chosen to analyse the advertisement for the Lynx Apollo (2013) deodorant in order to illustrate the ways in which ideological content can be used to reiterate the hegemonic ideals of the dominant and ruling minority, upon the subordinate and working class majority, as seen from a feministic theoretical position. Ideology is important because it enables insight into how a text struggles to construct some meanings whilst obscuring others. Hegemony is important as it stresses how capitalist power is not absolute but progressive, with a constant need to be renewed and re-enforced. These concepts are of interest as the effective application of both concepts to the text will work to reveal the structure of the advertisement which are not obvious, nor common sense; exposing how it works and achieves its meaning.
             Ideology is a complex term and is commonly referred to as a system of values, attitudes and belief characteristics which a class, a group, or an individual deems important. Ideologies usually go unquestioned as they are generally thought of as "any knowledge that is posed as natural or generally applicable" (O,Sullivan et al, 1994, p.140). How a society functions ideologically varies, as they are affected and determined by the culture of the particular group. Hegemony is concerned with the ways in which consent is won by the dominant minority. It allows insight into the way that "dominant social groups achieve rulership or leadership on the basis of attaining social cohesion and consensus" (Joseph, 2002, p.1). It argues that the hegemonic class maintains leadership by means of cultural ideas and ambiguous mediation which persuade the subordinate group that arrangements are beneficial to them (Branston and Stafford, 2010, p.436).
             I have chosen to perform a critical analysis on the Lynx Apollo (2013) advertisement which promotes the new fragrance for men from a feministic theoretical approach.