IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/pbapdi/v19y2023i3d10.1057_s41254-021-00257-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Country image, cultural diplomacy, and sports during the COVID19 pandemic: Brand America and Super Bowl LV

Author

Listed:
  • Yoav Dubinsky

    (University of Oregon)

Abstract

Although the Super Bowl became a national celebration of American culture, capitalism, and lifestyle, Super Bowl LV held in 2021 had a different tone, being held a few weeks after the attacks on the US Capitol, and during the COVID19 pandemic that by then cost the lives of over 400,000 in the United States. This study aims to answer the research question: How is the image of the United States projected through the coverage of Super Bowl LV in international media? After analyzing 114 media articles published by 19 national news outlets from 13 different English-speaking countries, five themes emerged from the data: (a) shared culture and values, (b) sociopolitical climate, (c) the pandemic, (d) the event, and (e) positionality. Using Buhmann and Ingenhoff’s four-dimensional country image model for analysis, findings of the study suggest that while American culture is being celebrated, American norms, ethics, and values are criticized, leading to a mixed international image. The study is significant as it contributes to the literature on country image, public diplomacy, and the sociocultural role of sports in Brand America and suggests a conceptual model for using sports for nation branding during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "Country image, cultural diplomacy, and sports during the COVID19 pandemic: Brand America and Super Bowl LV," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 249-265, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:19:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1057_s41254-021-00257-9
    DOI: 10.1057/s41254-021-00257-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41254-021-00257-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41254-021-00257-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nye, Joseph S., 2008. "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power," Scholarly Articles 11738397, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    2. Yoav Dubinsky, 2019. "From soft power to sports diplomacy: a theoretical and conceptual discussion," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(3), pages 156-164, September.
    3. Joseph S. Nye Jr., 2008. "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 94-109, March.
    4. Nicholas J. Cull, 2008. "Public Diplomacy: Taxonomies and Histories," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 616(1), pages 31-54, March.
    5. Andrew F. Cooper, 2019. "U.S. public diplomacy and sports stars: mobilizing African-American athletes as goodwill ambassadors from the cold war to an uncertain future," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(3), pages 165-172, September.
    6. Richard Borghesi, 2017. "Pay for play: the financial value of NCAA football players," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(46), pages 4657-4667, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "Sports, Brand America and U.S. public diplomacy during the presidency of Donald Trump," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 167-180, March.
    2. Seow Ting Lee, 2022. "Film as cultural diplomacy: South Korea’s nation branding through Parasite (2019)," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 93-104, June.
    3. Steven L. Pike, 2023. "What diplomats do: US citizen perspectives on the work of public diplomacy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 442-455, December.
    4. Steven L. Pike & Dennis F. Kinsey, 2024. "Diplomatic identity and communication: using Q methodology to assess subjective perceptions of diplomatic practitioners," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 66-75, March.
    5. Hendrik W. Ohnesorge, 2022. "The method of comparative-historical analysis: a tailor-made approach to public diplomacy research," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 261-271, September.
    6. B. Theo Mazumdar, 2024. "Digital diplomacy: Internet-based public diplomacy activities or novel forms of public engagement?," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 24-43, March.
    7. Matthew T. Palmer & Eugene Bempong Nyantakyi & Jami A. Fullerton, 2023. "The US Peace Corps as a public diplomacy strategy," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 15-29, March.
    8. Lesego Alicia Keimetswe, 2023. "The impact of the Chinese Government Scholarship Program and Confucius Institute on China’s national image in Botswana: a soft power perspective," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 488-499, December.
    9. Nyam Elisha Yakubu, 2022. "An Appraisal of Hard Power in Contemporary Practice of Diplomacy," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(02), pages 342-351, February.
    10. Raquel Quevedo-Redondo & Marta Rebolledo & Nuria Navarro-Sierra, 2023. "Music as Soft Power: The Electoral Use of Spotify," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(2), pages 241-254.
    11. Yazeed Abdullah Almahraj, 2023. "British press coverage of international sports events hosted by Saudi Arabia: content analysis study in light of country concept model," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. Yoav Dubinsky, 2023. "The Olympic Games, nation branding, and public diplomacy in a post-pandemic world: Reflections on Tokyo 2020 and beyond," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 386-397, September.
    13. Richard Parrish, 2022. "EU Sport Diplomacy: An Idea Whose Time Has Nearly Come," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1511-1528, September.
    14. Nisha Garud-Patkar, 2022. "Mediated Public Diplomacy: Frame-building Contest Between the United States and Pakistan During a Conflict," International Studies, , vol. 59(1), pages 58-75, January.
    15. Nadia Kaneva & Cecilia Cassinger, 2022. "Centering gender in public diplomacy and nation branding: an invitation to reimagine the future of the field," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(4), pages 305-313, December.
    16. Jacklyne Achieng' Aput & Anita Ndoti Kiamba & Peter Kagwanja, 2023. "Public Diplomacy in Regional Integration: Strategizing Policy Goals," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 368-384, October.
    17. Seow Ting Lee, 2023. "Vaccine diplomacy: nation branding and China’s COVID-19 soft power play," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 64-78, March.
    18. Seow Ting Lee, 2023. "A battle for foreign perceptions: Ukraine’s country image in the 2022 war with Russia," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 345-358, September.
    19. Hannah Moscovitz, 2022. "Projecting the Nation(s) in Multinational Federal Systems: International Education and Nation Branding in Canada/Quebec," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 52(1), pages 82-106.
    20. Muhammad Ittefaq & Zahid Shahab Ahmed & Yadira Ixchel Martínez Pantoja, 2023. "China’s Belt and Road Initiative and soft power in Pakistan: an examination of the local English-language press," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:pbapdi:v:19:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1057_s41254-021-00257-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.