Home Literary Studies Chapter 4. Press releases of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 4. Press releases of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers

A critical view on promotion techniques
  • Jekaterina Nikitina
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
Persuasion in Specialized Discourse
This chapter is in the book Persuasion in Specialized Discourse

Abstract

Press releases dedicated to the creation of a new vaccine draw on a complex weave of information and promotion, including at times also elements of manipulation. This discourse-analytical study explores the recurrent motifs and arguments in a corpus of English-language press releases of three leading vaccine-manufacturers – AstraZeneca, Moderna and Gamaleya-RDIF in the period directly preceding the launch of active vaccination campaigns. The study applies the framework of (critical) discourse analysis with insights from argumentation theory and rhetoric. Two moves of the press release are compared: boilerplate descriptions, performing a mixed informative-promotional function, and citations, to which an explicitly promotional role is attributed. The findings identify a number of common leitmotifs with a partial overlap between boilerplates and citations, especially concerning the safety issue. The latter is explicitly mentioned only in citations, i.e. with reduced accountability for the company. Boilerplates explore enthymemes for persuasive and argumentative purposes to convince the audience of the vaccine validity. Moderna and AstraZeneca use convergent techniques of persuasive argumentation, whereas RDIF at times glides towards argumentative fallacies and manipulative strategies.

Abstract

Press releases dedicated to the creation of a new vaccine draw on a complex weave of information and promotion, including at times also elements of manipulation. This discourse-analytical study explores the recurrent motifs and arguments in a corpus of English-language press releases of three leading vaccine-manufacturers – AstraZeneca, Moderna and Gamaleya-RDIF in the period directly preceding the launch of active vaccination campaigns. The study applies the framework of (critical) discourse analysis with insights from argumentation theory and rhetoric. Two moves of the press release are compared: boilerplate descriptions, performing a mixed informative-promotional function, and citations, to which an explicitly promotional role is attributed. The findings identify a number of common leitmotifs with a partial overlap between boilerplates and citations, especially concerning the safety issue. The latter is explicitly mentioned only in citations, i.e. with reduced accountability for the company. Boilerplates explore enthymemes for persuasive and argumentative purposes to convince the audience of the vaccine validity. Moderna and AstraZeneca use convergent techniques of persuasive argumentation, whereas RDIF at times glides towards argumentative fallacies and manipulative strategies.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of figures vii
  4. List of tables ix
  5. Introduction. Genres and persuasion 1
  6. Chapter 1. Plural conversations about argumentation 24
  7. Chapter 2. Establishing starting points in Editorials 46
  8. Chapter 3. Arguments and framing strategies in Italian public discourse about measures to contrast the Covid-19 pandemic 71
  9. Chapter 4. Press releases of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers 92
  10. Chapter 5. Legitimation in contested industries 111
  11. Chapter 6. Argumentative style in international adoption dossiers 134
  12. Chapter 7. Persuasion and critical-theoretical thought 153
  13. Chapter 8. Argumentation and the “interaction of minds” in text 169
  14. Chapter 9. Argumentation in scientific discourse 189
  15. Chapter 10. Teaching to manage implicit linguistic meanings 211
  16. Chapter 11. Bentham on rhetoric 232
  17. Chapter 12. Engaging conspiracy theories 248
  18. Index 265
https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.22.04nik

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of figures vii
  4. List of tables ix
  5. Introduction. Genres and persuasion 1
  6. Chapter 1. Plural conversations about argumentation 24
  7. Chapter 2. Establishing starting points in Editorials 46
  8. Chapter 3. Arguments and framing strategies in Italian public discourse about measures to contrast the Covid-19 pandemic 71
  9. Chapter 4. Press releases of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers 92
  10. Chapter 5. Legitimation in contested industries 111
  11. Chapter 6. Argumentative style in international adoption dossiers 134
  12. Chapter 7. Persuasion and critical-theoretical thought 153
  13. Chapter 8. Argumentation and the “interaction of minds” in text 169
  14. Chapter 9. Argumentation in scientific discourse 189
  15. Chapter 10. Teaching to manage implicit linguistic meanings 211
  16. Chapter 11. Bentham on rhetoric 232
  17. Chapter 12. Engaging conspiracy theories 248
  18. Index 265
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 23.2.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/aic.22.04nik/html
Scroll to top button