University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Communication Communication 2018 BUDWEISER IN THE 2017 SUPER BOWL: DIALECTIC VALUES ADVOCACY AND THE RHETORICAL STAKEHOLDER Benjamin P. Windholz University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2018.096 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Windholz, Benjamin P., "BUDWEISER IN THE 2017 SUPER BOWL: DIALECTIC VALUES ADVOCACY AND THE RHETORICAL STAKEHOLDER" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Communication. 67. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/comm_etds/67 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Communication by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Benjamin P. Windholz, Student Dr. Phillip Hutchison, Major Professor Dr. Bobi Ivanov, Director of Graduate Studies BUDWEISER IN THE 2017 SUPER BOWL: DIALECTIC VALUES ADVOCACY AND THE RHETORICAL STAKEHOLDER THESIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the College of Communication and Information at the University of Kentucky By Benjamin P. Windholz Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Phillip Hutchison, PhD, Associate Professor of Communication Lexington, Kentucky 2018 Copyright © Benjamin P. Windholz 2018 ABSTRACT OF THESIS BUDWEISER IN THE 2017 SUPER BOWL: DIALECTIC VALUES ADVOCACY AND THE RHETORICAL STAKEHOLDER Organizational-public relations discourse is changing given the advent of social media, and corporate statements are evaluated under different criteria in the digital age. Grounding Budweiser’s response to controversy over their 2017 Super Bowl advertisement in terms of consumer expectations for corporate social responsibility provides a new perspective for approaching Bostdorff and Vibbert’s (1994) conceptualization of values advocacy. This study recognizes the power of the rhetorical stakeholder, a discursively created public, and demands re-evaluation of the values common to society from a co- creational OPR perspective. Conceptualizing dialectic values advocacy outlines the changing values among contemporary, common stakeholders as well as the means for communicating these values superficially to promote unanimity among publics and organizations. Previously successful universal values like unity and patriotism have since been replaced with sensationalism and discord; formally engendering these values through ambiguous controversy allows an organization to strategically construct audience perceptions of reputation. KEYWORDS: Public Relations, Values Advocacy, Rhetoric, Communication, Dialectics Benjamin P. Windholz Author April 20, 2018 Date BUDWEISER IN THE 2017 SUPER BOWL: DIALECTIC VALUES ADVOCACY AND THE RHETORICAL STAKEHOLDER By Benjamin P. Windholz Dr. Phillip Hutchison Director of Thesis Dr. Bobi Ivanov Director of Graduate Studies 04/19/2018 Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The following thesis, while an individual work, benefited from the insights and direction of numerous people. First, my Thesis Chair, Dr. Phillip Hutchison, has been a constant source of clarity and illumination in this process. In addition, Dr. Hutchison’s commitment to timely feedback allowed me to complete a most thoroughly drafted thesis on time. I could not have asked for a better Chair and Advisor. Next, I wish to thank the complete Thesis Committee: Dr. Douglas A. Boyd, and Dr. Shari R. Veil. Both Dr. Veil and Dr. Boyd have been integral for developing my ideas and character at the University of Kentucky. In addition to the technical and instrumental assistance above, I received equally important assistance from family and friends. I cannot thank Kate Ambrose enough for her insights, continual grounding, and late-night chats. Carina Zelaya proved to me time and again that anything is possible. My best friends, Eli Harmon and Paul Knackendoffel were a wellspring of validation for my graduate education and I couldn’t have completed this thesis without their support. I am indebted to my grandma, Pat, for always indulging me by listening, and my grandpa, Bernie, for offering highly detailed feedback on my ideas. I’d like to thank my sister, Dan, for encouraging me to never give up. Finally, I would like to thank my father, Rick, for exemplifying the virtues of academia, and my mother, Mary, for always keeping these virtues in proper perspective. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Case Overview ..............................................................................................................1 Social Media & Public Relations: A Problem ..............................................................4 An Argument for the Dialectic—Reconciling Meanings .............................................8 Outline of Study..........................................................................................................10 Chapter Two: Literature Review .......................................................................................12 The Organization ........................................................................................................13 Issues management .........................................................................................13 Values advocacy .............................................................................................16 Consumer expectations for organizational values ..........................................20 Competing dualisms in OPR relationships .....................................................23 Contexts & Stakeholders ............................................................................................26 The role of context in organizational discourse ..............................................26 Stakeholder-centrism ......................................................................................29 Rhetorical stakeholders ...................................................................................33 Chapter Three: Methodology .............................................................................................36 Case Studies & Criticism ............................................................................................38 Analyzing Budweiser’s Values Advocacy .................................................................39 Chapter Four: Analysis ......................................................................................................41 Calm Before the Storm ...............................................................................................41 The Commercial & Fallout .........................................................................................46 Form & Ambiguity .....................................................................................................48 New expectations for OPR form ....................................................................48 Ambiguity two ways .......................................................................................49 Espousing Formal Ambiguity .....................................................................................52 Chapter Five: Dialectic Values Advocacy .........................................................................57 Changing Values Systems ..........................................................................................59 Disruption without Damage: Strategizing Dialectic Values Advocacy .....................62 Ambiguously controversial content ................................................................63 Superficially engaging form ...........................................................................64