Zombie Ent(r)ailments in Risk Communication: A Rhetorical Analysis of the CDC's Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Campaign. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cheek, Ryan
• Is Part Of: Journal of technical writing & communication. Volume 50:Number 4(2020)
• Page Start: 401
• Page End: 422
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: risk communication -- disaster preparedness -- disease rhetoric -- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- zombie apocalypse -- technical communication -- apocalyptic rhetoric; Technical writing -- Periodicals; 808.0666
• DOI: 10.1177/0047281619892630
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0047-2816

Abstract

Apocalypticism is a powerful brew of eschatological belief and political imagination that is extremely persuasive. This article addresses the intersections between apocalyptic rhetoric and the technical communication of risk, disease outbreak, and disaster preparedness by analyzing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's zombie apocalypse preparedness campaign. Specifically, I argue that the framing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's campaign relies on and extends problematic iterations of apocalypticism and undermines the educational objectives of disaster preparedness and response. I conclude with suggestions for how technical communicators designing public awareness and outreach campaigns can use existential risk rhetoric for engagement without succumbing to the pernicious side effects of apocalypticism.