Critical Discourse Analysis: Ideological Supremacy of Durex Adverts on Facebook Fan Page Kenya

The paper explores ideological supremacy of durex adverts on Facebook fan page Kenya by unpacking the dominant themes in the adverts. Sex education and safe sex advertising remain a global challenge due to its sensitivity and biases derived from attitudes and values that are either personal or related to religion and traditions. Some societies openly discuss taboo topics such as sex, sexual orientations and sexual practices while others are uneasy about doing so. This is a challenge to condoms promoters who use online means to reach people of different cultures worldwide. This study, therefore, critically analyzed Durex adverts in their Facebook fan page Kenya. The study uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) specifically Norman Fairclough’s 3 -D model and Kress and van Leeuwen’s Grammar of Visual Design. The research designs used was both quantitative and descriptive. Data was collected through making an online observation, retrieving and electronically storing. Purposive sampling procedure was used to arrive at 150 adverts (visuals and written) were downloaded from the Durex Facebook fan page Kenya for analysis. The findings showed that the most dominant theme was pleasure derived from using Durex condoms. Rational appeal was most dominant, and various metaphors were used in Durex adverts to ideologically construct super Durex using various discourses to avoid discussing matters of sex openly. This research will add knowledge to the field of Critical Discourse Analysis, especially in health communication and taboo topics.