Jennifer M. Proffitt and Thomas F. Corrigan are the authors of the article, “Penn State’s Success with Honor. How Institutional Structure and Brand Logic Disincentivized Disclosure.” Proffitt is a Floridian Professor with studies in history, media and communications while Corrigan studies the relationship between wealth and power in societies. Both fields of study are evident when discussing a case such as the Sandusky scandal, which is their main subject here. The main concept that forces their research home is the concept of "brand logic." Basically, that is the protection of athletic faculty and students by institutions in an effort to lessen the risk of their respective brand being damaged.
"The brand logic gobig-time intercollegiate athletic programs places images & profits ahead of people" (Ganis 323).
"When a higher value is placed on a football team, its coaches, and the (symbolic) capital they generate than the academic objectives of the university, brand logic trumps higher education's democratic imperative" ( Proffitt, Corrigan 325).
"Universities see athletes, and college football in particular as their "front porch" - a unit that returns value to the institution in the form of community, visibility, brand identity, alumni giving, and student applications" (Proffitt, Corrigan 324).
The theory of brand logic is key in my research of how universities protect their people less than their brand.
Proffitt, M. Jennifer. Corrigan, F. Thomas. “Penn State’s Success with Honor. How Institutional Structure and Brand Logic Disincentivized Disclosure.” Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies. 12.4 (2012): 322. 325. Web. 2 Mar 2015
This is a very useful article, especially for laying out the problems with "brand logic" in driving decisions based on image, which means that what people see is more important than what they do not. You should reflect on some of the other problems of "brand logic" -- putting brand above other things (including people) or above less visible aspects of college -- such as directing funds away from academics to more visible things like buildings, climbing walls, and dorms.
ReplyDeleteYou should also look more broadly at critiques of brand logic more generally -- including outside of the higher education context. You will learn ways to apply that concept more broadly to expand your analysis.
Brand logic is what makes college football such a popular vehicle for branding and advertising. Though the majority of people might not understand what actually goes on behind the ivy covered walls of our higher education institutions, they can easily grasp the aesthetics of a nice catch,a hard hit, or a winning team.
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