Like a puppeteer who controls its puppets with strings, the media controls the public with hegemony. Hegemony can be defined as the control and/or influence a ruling group has over another. The powerful group may refer to hegemony as "leadership" or "guidance" but, for the unknowingly public, hegemony may be easier defined as subtle submission by their part. The only difference between the puppeteer and the media is the strings for the puppet are physical whereas the strings for the media are naturally planted into the public's mind.
Steve Jobs is the ultimate modern day puppeteer and the way he advertises his products are the strings to his success. The products of the Apple Company are advertised to seem as the "cool" and "modern" technologies of the "cool" and "modern" citizen. The classic example of the hip Apple customer is of the commercials of the MacBook where a cool and young fellow tells the viewer that he "is a Mac" and an older, less cooler man proclaims that he "is a PC." This kind of commercial tells the audience that Macs are cooler than a PC and in a country where it is essential to be cool, the public unknowingly succumbs to the Apple Company's use of hegemony.
Video Courtesy of YouTube.com
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