Public Relations and Advertising Commons^™

A Comparative Content Analysis Of News Stories And Press Releases During The 2015 Blue Bell Ice Cream Recall, Brandyl Brooks Calley, Courtney Meyers, Courtney Gibson, Erica Irlbeck

Journal of Applied Communications

In 2015, Blue Bell Creameries had its first recall in the company’s history. Blue Bell issued a voluntary recall of all of its ice cream products after Listeria was detected and was linked to 10 illnesses that resulted in three deaths. With the theoretical framework of framing and Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the purpose of this study was to explore how this recall was presented in company press releases and news media coverage to determine what crisis communication strategies Blue Bell implemented and how the media presented that information. This study was a content analysis of 23 press releases from …