Hegemony and Media Framing

    Hegemony and media framing have a great impact in the world we live in today. We see them everywhere we go, in all different situations and environments. Hegemony is the ideological and cultural authority one group of society has over the others (obtained socially, not forcibly). Hegemony is commonly used through the media, targeting those groups presided over. Media framing is a way of influences how the minds of the audience think and perceive.       
    The concepts of hegemony and media framing help me understand this advertisement from McDonald’s and how the company influences what the children of our society want to eat. McDonald's is an enormous company, expanding all over the world. They are a prime example of hegemony and media framing is littered all over their advertisement
    In this advertisement, Ronald McDonald is playing the guitar and singing as his children companions follow along, happily singing with him. Children see this advertisement and get the sense that if they eat the same food Ronald McDonald eats, then they too can be as utterly happy as the kids in the picture. Ergo, they’ll ask their parents to take them to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. McDonald’s uses media framing and its hegemony in advertising to lead children and their families to their restaurants so they can continue to make millions.
http://francisanderson.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/ronald-mcdonalds.jpg