Social Communication Crisis Theory Over the Blue Bell Ice Cream Crisis

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Introduction

In 2015, Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries recalled its products in 108 years of operation for the first time. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in six Americans become ill each year due to eating contaminated food, and 3,000 people die (Calley et al., 2019). Blue Bell deliberately reminisced about all ice cream products after listeria was identified, linked to ten diseases leading to three deaths (Meisner & Hinderaker, 2020). Marketing-oriented firms like Blue Bell prove the importance of trust with their customers, but when it is lost, it backfires. Coombs developed a theory of situational crisis communication for effective post-crisis communication to minimize reputational extortion (Coombs, 2018). The theory shows how crisis response tactics can be used to protect reputational assets and is based on what was originally known as image recovery. SCCT consists of three sections: Crisis, Response Tactics, and Suggestions, and uses attribution theory. This study examines the means used by Blue Bell to communicate the incident through the media.

RQ: What distress reporting methods did Blue Bell use, and how did the major broadcasters build a public storyline around the 2015 Blue Bell Creameries listeriosis epidemic in a way that the company retained strong customer support?

Data

This study uses a comparative analysis of Blue Bell’s press releases and press coverage of an ice cream recall event in 2015. Printed in locations where Blue Bell goods were sold, nationwide news stories were included in the sample, gathered using an internet exploration and news databanks. Local news stories were collected using Newsbank’s Access World News database. I narrowed the results using the dates 2015, March to June 2016, the front-page search “Blue Bell,” and the all-text examination Listeria. Narrative newscast framing in catastrophe 22, the first impurity complaints, and Blue Bell’s reintroduction to the souk was used to define the date range. Google News was used to collect national news stories utilizing the same benchmarks as the Newsbank folder search. Based on the collected data, the similarities and differences in the coverage of the Blue Bell crisis in the company’s messages and in the local press were examined.

Results

The findings of this intertextual show the public chronicle around Blue Bell Creameries’ 2015 crisis of listeriosis outbreak, as reported by nationwide and local news outlets. The data-driven intertextual account of the issue illustrates the disparity in how national and local media frame news reports regarding Blue Bell’s dilemma. The four crisis response tactics employed as frameworks were denied, decreased, rebuilt, and boosted. A study of Blue Bell reports has shown rapid recognition of a problem with contaminated products. After reports surfaced that Blue Bell was the culprit, the company made little attempt to justify itself. A small attempt to reduce and downplay the company’s guilt was found in the early responses, but this method is not observed in the rest. A study of third-party news sources has shown that they are mostly based on the words of Blue Bell officials. None of the news outlets studied downplay the company’s fault in the incident, but all try to be objective.

Production

The writers’ interpretative framework and who is given voice are identified through production analysis. At each crisis stage, the national media virtually exclusively provided the voice to government entities engaged. The Washington Post, in March 2015, led with remarks from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA regarding the inquiry when the voluntary recall was initially announced (Dennis, 2015). From Food and Drug Administration’s analysis, it becomes clear that the bacterium in question, which was responsible for the incident, was in the products at the enterprise in 2014; that is, the company did not comply with the norms for at least a year before the incident (2015). A survey of listeriosis outbreaks by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointed to Blue Bell being directly at fault for the outbreak in 2015 but indicated that the company was working to correct the situation (2015). Blue Bell received a lot of local press attention in locations where it did trade, and it was raised to the position of a cultural icon. For example, KHOU’s coverage of Blue Bell was perhaps the most constant of those surveyed, with a program centering on a “Support Blue Bell” Day held in Brenham near Blue Bell’s head office (2015). Thus, despite the obvious fault of the company in the event, it managed to get support.

Interpretive Framing

The subjective assessment of the incident was less popular in the national media; the majority tried to be objective in covering the issue. National media coverage of the incident focuses on listeriosis from a scientific and non-partisan perspective, emphasizing the health risks to consumers. Coverage of this issue has become massive, with the participation of many news agencies. The news was filled with headlines about Blue Bell’s history in Texas at the start of the voluntary recall.

Distribution

News coverage is viewed as part of a system of intertextual chronicles in distribution analysis, integrated into a public narrative with other texts. As a result, intertextual distribution analysis uncovers the juxtaposed examples utilized to form an impressive chronicle and underlines the contrast between synchronized texts conveying the same tale in various ways, at least factually (Meisner, 2017). The same story happens when the information affects the reader differently if newsagents use various approaches to convey information.

Juxtaposition

Other large-scale adulteration episodes were juxtaposed with Blue Bell’s 2015 listeriosis disaster in the national media. When other organizations’ crises were more serious than Blue Bell’s, the local media frequently compared them to Blue Bell. Other food crises and recall incidents, whether or not linked to Listeria infection, were paralleled in the media. Based in Ohio, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams announced an intentional recall following a positive test for Listeria bacteria in their manufacturing facilities, a situation that several national media sites compared to. Blue Bell and Jeni’s were compared by the New York Times on May 7, 2015, and CNN Money on August 5, 2015 (Meisner & Hinderaker, 2020). The Houston Chronicle published a report on April 27, 2015, linking a Salmonella epidemic neglected by a corporation, Peanut Corporation of America, to the company’s bankruptcy (Chernov & Sornette, 2020). Thus, the Blue Bell incident became an example of the company’s crisis in the national media.

Contrast

Local and national media have largely influenced the story of the Blue Bell dilemma. The incident was presented as a public health issue, and customers were warned of the potential hazards that listeriosis infection could bring. The Los Angeles Times began its story in March 2015 under the headline “Three Deaths Linked to Contaminated Ice Cream in Kansas” (Meisner, 2017). Several national publications have also quantified the disaster, highlighting the loss of life. It is worth noting that Blue Bell received many negative reviews in the local press. On the other hand, stories criticizing Blue Bell’s predicament were published almost exclusively from letters to the editor.

Discussion and Conclusion

The research question was to determine the crisis response strategies that Blue Bell used and the means of reporting the situation in the national media. Blue Bell’s strategies can be described as both defensive and adaptive. Defensive responses insist that there is no problem and are aimed at convincing the buyer that everything is in order with the organization. Accommodative responses are characterized by the organization taking full responsibility, recognizing the problem, and attempting to take corrective action. A defensive response strategy downplays or understates the problem. Examined data shows that Blue Bell’s press releases used denial and downplay strategies; however, they were not common.

The Blue Bell type of crisis can be considered an incident due to human error, which could have been prevented, and the responsibility for the incident lies entirely with Blue Bell. The company chose a successful strategy from the beginning and did not deny its involvement in the disease outbreak, resulting in human sacrifices. Instead, the company decided to restore its reputation and improve the brand by taking responsibility for the incident. According to the situational theory of crisis communication, crisis response strategies can shape behavioral intentions towards an organization and restore a company’s image and reputation (Ndone & Park, 2022). In general, Blue Bell’s press announcements revealed that the corporation followed Coombs’ theory, which advised what companies should do in times of crisis (Brooks, 2017). The rebuild stance was the most dominating of the four, implying that Blue Bell was attempting to swiftly rehabilitate and recover the company’s reputation by accepting some responsibility for the issue and apologizing to customers for the outbreak.

Most news sources quoted Blue Bell officials directly and based the news on their statements. Newsagents also cited unidentified sources to heighten the emotional impact, citing unconfirmed experts and the government. The news supports the “Apologetic Tone” of company officials, which Coombs says is a successful strategy given that the incident could have been prevented. (Ramamurthy, 2018). The information contained in the Blue Bell press releases was purposefully aimed at an apology for the current situation, so the citation in this vein is not surprising.

The media can use the existing framework when providing information; they can also develop their patterns aimed, for example, to increase the emotional impact. If establishments actively express their stories to the public and utilize their frames, the media may also use the same frames. The most common stance in this research was rebuild, indicating that Blue Bell was quickly attempting to mend and recover its status by accepting some responsibility for the disaster and apologizing to customers (Whitten, 2018). This is a compelling explanation of how the company managed to maintain its reputation and not lose customers, despite the serious blame for the outbreak of a dangerous disease. The organization will always ensure that the media publish reliable information about the incident, regardless of the sources. The national media based their reports on the incident by quoting Blue Bell officials or based their coverage entirely on reports from company representatives.

All of a source’s comments might be used to help frame the crisis tale. These statistics reveal the sources utilized in news items and the most common themes discussed by those sources. The recognition of their mistakes and the conduct of all necessary examinations immediately contributed to preserving the company’s reputation. All four reports for 2015 indicate that the company is doing everything possible to eliminate the incident, does not absolve itself of responsibility, and apologizes (Blue Bell Creameries Inc., 2015a, Blue Bell Creameries Inc., 2015b, Blue Bell Creameries Inc., 2015c, Blue Bell Creameries Inc., 2015d). According to the company, in two 2016 reports, it carefully monitors production safety and does its best to ensure that the situation does not happen again (Blue Bell Creameries Inc., 2016a, Blue Bell Creameries Inc., 2016b). The remarks looked to be an attempt to repair Blue Bell’s reputation, as the company was the major source in these news reports.

Finally, both the Blue Bell Company itself and the news outlets acted according to existing similar models of coping with the crisis. Much of the content, not always explicitly, referred to support, downplay, or denial strategies. A study of a similar case with the Toyota recall revealed that the company and news outlets used different ways of reporting the situation (Do & Nham, 2021). However, current research shows that there are many similarities between Blue Bell’s response strategies and press coverage. Most likely, this result is due to the effective use of the SCCT crisis communication model, which assumes the use of adaptive strategies as part of success. Organizations in crisis can use this model, which has proven to be successful, to deal with a crisis through internal and external communication. A positive reputation and loyalty allow the company to quickly recover from the crisis and earn customers’ trust again.

References

Brooks, B. J. (2017). A Comparative Content Analysis of News Stories and Press Releases during the 2015 Blue Bell Ice Cream Recall (Doctoral dissertation).

Calley, B. B., Meyers, C., Gibson, C., & Irlbeck, E. (2019). A comparative content analysis of news stories and press releases during the 2015 blue bell ice cream recall. Journal of Applied Communications, 103(3).

Chernov, D., & Sornette, D. (2020). Specific Features of Risk Management in the Service Sector. In Critical Risks of Different Economic Sectors (pp. 147-261). Springer, Cham.

Coombs, T. W. (2018). Crisis communication. Encyclopedia of Public Relations, 2.

Do, B. N., & Nham, T. P. (2021). Brand crisis response strategies: Atypology continuum. Business: Theory and Practice, 22(1), 146-158.

Meisner, C. (2017). When product loss minimizes product harm: The reframed narrative of Blue Bell Creameries’ 2015 Listeriosis Crisis.

Meisner, C., & Hinderaker, A. (2020). Reframed crisis narratives: Localized agenda setting, product loyalty, and pre-existing organizational narratives in the 2015 Blue Bell Creameries listeriosis crisis. Western Journal of Communication, 84(2), 186-203.

Ndone, J., & Park, J. (2022). Crisis communication: The mediating role of cognitive and affective empathy in the relationship between crisis type and crisis response strategy on post-crisis reputation and forgiveness. Public Relations Review, 48(1), 102136.

Ramamurthy, R. (2018). Rebuild: How Brands in India Overcame Crisis and Emerged Stronger, Better, Wiser. Hachette UK.

Whitten, R. L. (2018). A Call for Revival: From Discourse of Renewal to Crisis Revival, a Crisis Management Approach for Brand Communities (Doctoral dissertation).

Appendix A

The Media Sources

Blue Bell Creameries Inc. (2015a). 60-Day Update on Response of Blue Bell Creameries, Inc., to FDA Form 483s.

Blue Bell Creameries Inc. (2015b). Responses of Blue Bell Creameries, Inc., to FDA Form 483s.

Blue Bell Creameries Inc. (2015c). Second Update on Response of Blue Bell Creameries, Inc., to

FDA Form 483 Issued to Our Broken Arrow Facility.

Blue Bell Creameries Inc. (2016a). Summary of Root Cause Assessment Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Facility.

Blue Bell Creameries Inc. (2016b). Summary of Root Cause Assessment Brenham, Texas, Facility.

Blue Bell Creameries Inc. (2015d). Updated Response of Blue Bell Creameries, Inc., to FDA Form 483 Issued to Brenham Facility.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Blue Bell Creameries Products (Final Update). Listeria. CDC. Web.

Dennis, B (2015). Blue Bell Issues Nationwide Recall of All Products, as Listeria outbreak Grows. The Washington Port. Web.

Department of Health and Human Services food and Drug Administration (2015). Inspectional Observation no. 1000118167.

KHOU-TV. (2015). It’s back! Blue Bell Returns to Some Texas, Ala. Stores. USA Today. Web.

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