Heather Kfoury

Dr. Aimee Roundtree

ENG 5330 / Visual Design
Student Research Conference Project
8 May 2012

A Rhetorical and Ethical Analysis of a Corporate Holiday Card during the Recession

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This research project is a rhetorical and ethical analysis of a corporate holiday card
created by a Houston technical company in December 2007, the start of the Great Recession. The
study examines the rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, context) of the card against the
changing global realities experienced during the recession.
In order for corporate communication messages to be effective, they must be honest and
ethical in their purpose and context, as well as address the intended audience appropriately.
This holiday card is an example of how the company failed a rhetorical situation and its
ethical obligation two ways:
1. To produce ethical communication that acknowledges the recession as reality.
2. To address its global audience appropriately.
This research is based on the rhetorical triangle outlined by Charles Kostelnick and David
D. Roberts in Designing Visual Language: Strategies for Professional Communication and the
ethics theories of James Grunig and Todd Hunt in Managing Public Relations.
Before creating a message, corporate communicators are always thinking about the
rhetorical situation whether they know it or not. Who are we speaking to? What are we trying
to say? How are we going to get the message out? These common questions are also known as
the rhetorical triangle.
The rhetorical situation drives the decisions you make during the entire
communication process In each communication you design, youll try to shape
its visual language so that it fits the rhetorical situation audience, purpose, and
context (Kostelnik and Roberts 5).
The question remains, however, whether these communications are effective simply by
following the rhetorical triangle. In the last 20 years, the philosophy of effective communication
has evolved from one-way communication, in which the company has complete control of its

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public perception, to two-way communication, in which a company acknowledges its audience

and enlists feedback. It is two-way communication that has been deemed by modern-day
practitioners as the most ethical method of communication (Grunig and Hunt).
Ruth Edgett examined the framework of Grunig and Hunts communication models. She
believes Grunig and Hunt developed the Four Models of Public Relations because they
practitioners are mediators between organizations and their public. The result of this mediation
is that all parties benefit, and that no one party attempts to control the perceptions and ideas of
the other (Edgett 4).
The symmetrical process implies that the receivers of the messages are valued
equally with the message originators; thus, in the terms of classical moral
philosophers, audiences are regarded as end-in-themselves rather than as means
toward an end. The result is a process that many of todays scholars believe meets
a higher ethical standard than the traditional forms of one-way communication,
such as press agentry and information dissemination; or even two-way
asymmetrical communication, which uses intelligence about audiences to more
effectively target persuasion techniques (Edgett 3).
This research would benefit the technical communication field by offering a practical
examination of visual design and how visual language can affect the rhetorical situation. This
research is an example of technical miscommunication that occurs when basic visual design
elements are not followed.
Background Information
In the summer of 2007, the United States began to undergo what many would later refer
to as the Great Recession. The financial boom and imminent collapse of major U.S. banking
institutions and the Federal Reserves monetary bail out of nearly $181 billion all contributed to
a change in business climate for U.S. companies. The hardest hit year was 2008 as the U.S.

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housing market ruptured with 31 million home foreclosures and the unemployment rate reached
9.5 percent. Again, the environment in which U.S. companies were forced to conduct business
was altered.
By mid-2009, the National Bureau of Economic Research proclaims the recession is
officially over, however, fallout from years of gluttonous business practices continued to affect
how U.S. companies operated, forcing them to produce more, at higher prices, with less
workforce. By 2010, one in eight U.S. citizens 40 million had enrolled to receive food
stamps, the highest in the countrys history.
The company that created this holiday card is global; with employees, customers and
vendors in United States, Asia, Middle East, Mexico and South America. Company headquarters
are based in Houston, Texas, which is also where the corporate communicators who develop
company-wide messages are based.
The exigence that drove the company to create a holiday card in December 2007 was the
winter season and societal conformity to Christmas traditions. The exigence that influenced the
corporate communicators who developed the holiday card was the recession.
2007: The start of the Great Recession
The company delivered its 2007 corporate Christmas card in the month of December;
around the same time real personal income, industrial production and wholesale and retail sales
in the U.S. were showing top-producing numbers. The company even delivered its fourth quarter
earnings call to stakeholders proclaiming the end of 2007 as delivering strong results with
record revenues, income, bookings and backlog.
This, however, was simply a shiny veneer on U.S. business operations as history now
tells us that the insides were crumbling at break-neck speeds. While numbers were up, the

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Federal Reserve was pumping a final $40 billion of a total of $181 billion into failing banks and
mortgage lenders the first milestone historians have recognized as the start of the Great
Recession.
The 2007 holiday card is rectangle and vertical in length. Its predominant color is black
and depicts a red and green poinsettia as the central graphic element. When considering
arrangement, the first visual component on the card is positioned in the top right corner. It is
white text in a script serif font that says:
To our customers and friends we extend our best wishes
for a joyous holiday season and a successful new year
The white script text is the quintessential holiday message. The word choice is extremely
generic and omits an empathetic response to the recession. It may indeed be a joyous holiday
season since the recession, at this point, has yet to affect the average person. To wish for a
successful new year, however, is wrong in two ways.
First, to wish for success is alarmingly deceptive considering most U.S. businesses,
especially global ones, can see the horizon ahead. They are giving their audience false hope that
the next year will be a success while they, in turn, are bracing for the worst. Second, to mention
the new year at all is premature for audiences who dont even celebrate the new year until two
months later.
The choice to use the word extend is also confusing since most people extend regret or
condolences. It would have been better for the communicators to craft a message of hope.
The use of white color for the text is a contrast to the stark black background. This gives
the text a positive and uplifting ethos compared to the dark background, thus the message a
positive and uplifting tone. Also uplifting is how the text is emerging from a black background in

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a whimsical, feminine serif script. Kostelnick and Roberts point out that using serif typeface
humanizes the message and may provide a measure of sincerity (20).
Beneath the text is a red and green poinsettia designed in a swirl. Even though the white
script holiday text is at the top of the card, the size of the poinsettia image suggests that the
hierarchy of the arrangement falls with the poinsettia as the primary focal point.
Poinsettias are a very common holiday symbol to Christmas practitioners. Even though
the plants popularity started amongst Roman Catholics in Mexico, across North America
poinsettias are typical Christmas decorations in homes, churches, and offices. In the United
States, December 12th is National Poinsettia Day.
The fact that the poinsettia is designed in red and green is further proof of its conformity
to the U.S. holiday season. It is obvious then that this card is intended for U.S. residents, or at
least those who acknowledge the Christian holiday of Christmas. The company, however, is a
global corporation with operations in Asia and the Middle East where Buddhists and Muslims
are prominent. Since Christmas is a Christian religious holiday, these images are not widely
recognized or even popular beyond Western culture and the company has failed to include their
global audience in this communication.
Since the poinsettia is designed in a swirl, it gives off a distorted look as if the plant is in
motion, whimsical, progressing through space. This design is a metonymy (or association to a
generate meaning) for the companys own progression in business. It suggests that times are
good, times are fun, times are fanciful, times are moving. In the fourth quarter earnings call
discussing the end of 2007, the companys Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
said this:
The energy markets we serve continue to be robust, which
provides a good tailwind to the operational improvements we

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have made over the last few years.

The use of the term tailwind is another indication of motion or movement. This is the
image the company is seeking to project for 2007. It is fair to assume that the CEO of a global
corporation of this size would be acutely aware of the economic turmoil facing the U.S.
economy. He is either unwilling or unable to acknowledge this during the stakeholders speech,
which is most likely influencing how the corporate communicators are crafting their message at
this time. By producing a message that implies forward movement, the company fails to
acknowledge the financial downfall a recession creates. The purpose of the message is deceptive,
and therefore, unethical.
It is important to note that behind the fun, swirling poinsettia is the stark black
background. This gives the card an ominous tone, as if a doom of some kind lingers. This would
not have been a conscious concept for the corporate communicators to incorporate into the card.
However, considering the changing social climate at the time the card was created, it is feasible
to assume that the lingering national doom was present in the designers unconscious when he
chose such a deep, space-like black for the progressive, swirling poinsettia to emerge from.
At the bottom of the card is a white block with an image of the company logo and another
message in black sans serif text that says:
A donation will be made to the MD Anderson Childrens Cancer
Hospital with savings from sending this card electronically.
If the poinsettia image and the white script text is the main purpose of the holiday card,
then the bottom portion is a sort of footnote to the primary concept.
Its arrangement at the bottom of the card suggests it is the conclusion, the end, but not
necessarily an afterthought. The use of the company logo in this white block clarifies to the
audience who the sender of the card is. The typeface used for this message is professional in

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appearance. The sans serif font makes it personable, not formal, but the use of a period at the end
indicates the professionalism of the message; whereas the holiday message at the top did not.
The text clearly states the context of the holiday card it is not in print but being sent
electronically. The company points out that it is utilizing cost-saving measures this year by not
printing the card, an obvious indication of financial awareness. By stating that the company is
focused on cost shows it is frugal and willing to take measures of economic viability.
Closer examination of the message, however, reveals the savings generated from sending
the card electronically are to be donated to a charity, so there is no real savings at all. The
company is spending the same amount of money but just making a donation to charity. This
indicates that the company is more interested in appearing socially conscious than practicing real
financial stewardship. The true purpose of this double-sided message is unclear and can be
construed as deceptive and unethical.
In summation, the rhetorical situation of the 2007 holiday card is as follows:
Audience: The card is speaking to U.S. citizens only, or at least those of the Western culture.
This is proved by the use of a well-known Christmas symbol as the primary graphic focal point,
and the textual reference to New Years. The card fails to acknowledge its global audience in
Asia and the Middle East where Christianity is not the primary religion, thus, Christmas not
celebrated. Additionally, these global cultures do not recognize New Years in
December/January.
Purpose: The message is to send best wishes for a successful new year on the cusp of the Great
Recession. As the very least, this message indicates total ignorance of the social and economic
impact its audience is going through. At worst, the creators of this message chose to ignore

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reality by using generic work choice that does not appropriately address the job loss and lifechanging realities, which is unethical.
Context: The card was designed to be sent electronically instead of print. At first glance, it
appears the company is practicing financial stewardship, which is appropriate acknowledgement
of the recession. However, since the savings are to be donated to charity, there is no real savings.
The true purpose of this double-sided message is unclear and can be construed as deceptive and
unethical.
The 2007 holiday card failed ethically because it portrays images and text of forward
movement and positivity. This imagery and text can be construed as deceptive since it does not
correlate with the economic fallout of U.S. businesses and the recession.
The card also failed its rhetorical situation by not relation to its global audience. The card
has a poinsettia as its main graphic focal point. The poinsettia is a popular symbol in the
Christmas holiday season; and Christmas is largely a Christian celebration. By choosing the
poinsettia, some two-thirds of the companys audience whom live in non-Christian communities
was ignored.
Additionally, the global audience does not celebrate New Years in December/January,
nor are they familiar with the charity the company has designated as the recipient of its
donations.
This research project could continue beyond 2007 and examine the holiday cards the
company produced throughout the recession. Some weaknesses to consider are the time
constraints faced when conducting this research, as well as the arguments themselves. Like with
any rhetorical analysis, the main points of this research could be argued by a different viewpoint.

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For example, in a recent presentation of this research, an audience member questioned whether
poinsettias represent Christianity.
Bibliography
Edgett, Ruth. Toward an Ethical Framework for Advocacy in Public Relations. Journal of
Public Relations Research 14:1 (2002): 1-26. Web. Retrieved 10 November 2011.

Grunig, James, Todd Hunt. Managing Public Relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
1984. Print.

Kostelnick, Charles, and David D. Roberts. Designing Visual Language Strategies for
Professional Communication. 2nd ed. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials.

2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications, 2007. Print.