By: Savanah Voss

§ The University of Maryland, a top research university, put out a news release that
claimed a new type of chocolate milk called Fifth Quarter Fresh had the ability to
help improve cognitive and motor functions of football players over the course of a
season even if they had previously had a concussion.
§ At the time the release was sent out in December 2015, concussions were a popular
topic among Hollywood, the media, researchers, etc.
§ The University of Maryland’s news release was titled, “Concussion-Related
Measures Improved in High School Football Players Who Drank Chocolate Milk, UMD
Study Shows.”
§ The Health News Review is an internet-based group that keeps track of health news
being reported for accuracy, balance, and completeness. They caught wind of this
press release and analyzed it using review criteria based on 10 standards.
§ The standards included if the release discusses the cost of the product? Not
satisfactory
§ does it quantify the benefits of the product? Not satisfactory
§ does it explain the harms, does it grasp the quality of evidence? Not satisfactory
§ does it commit disease-mongering? Satisfactory
§ does it identify funding sources, does it identify conflicts of interest? Not
satisfactory
§ does it establish availability? Not satisfactory
§ does it establish the true novelty of the approach? Not satisfactory
§ Does it include unjustifiable sensational language or quotes of researchers? Not
satisfactory
§ The news release did not explain the university’s quality of evidence and talked
about claims that were not tested. The research was also not peer-reviewed or
published.
§ The news release did not disclose any conflicts of interest or if there were funding
sources outside the university. “There are no disclosures about any relationships
between the researchers and the company, including whether it could profit from
any sales boost following the use of research results in marketing campaigns…the
release doesn’t say so.” (Swann, p. 27, 2020).
§ The study also did not compare Fifth Quarter Fresh chocolate milk to any other
products available in the market.
§ In the release the university quoted a Washington County public school
superintendent who talked about taking action to have Fifth Quarter Fresh
available to all their student-athletes by having the product available in all of his
schools.
§ The Health News Review published their critique of the University of Maryland’s
press release with the title “Release Claiming Chocolate Milk Improves Concussion
Symptoms in Student-Athletes Is Out-of-Bounds.”
§ The Health News Review organization received no communication from the
University of Maryland about their article on their website and six days later
posted another article titled, “Why Won’t the University of Maryland Talk About the
Chocolate Milk/Concussion Study It Was So Eager to Promote?”
§ Weeks later, the university then sent an e-mail to HealthNewsReview stating that it
will begin an internal investigation on the study and those involved from Dr. Patrick
O’Shea, the vice president of research at the University of Maryland. The Health
News Review then released another post saying, “Maryland could have avoided all
of this simply by being open and transparent in the beginning.” (Swann, p. 20,
2020).
§ The university concluded its internal investigation, and it was concluded that there
were multiple problems with its research.
§ The lead researcher that oversaw the study did not disclose a possible conflict of
interest or follow university policy due to a donation to the lab from the Allied Milk
Foundation of $228,910 which the university now has returned following the
investigation.
§ The University of Maryland also revised its policy and now no news release can be
issued on research findings without being peer-reviewed.
§ The year following the study on Fifth Quarter Fresh multiple employees from the
University of Maryland have left their positions.
§ To increase the number of athletes among high schools that drank Fifth Quarter
Fresh chocolate milk.
§ To increase the number of schools that carried Fifth Quarter Fresh chocolate milk.

§ To expand the schools that carried Fifth Quarter Fresh chocolate milk to
elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges.
§ To increase awareness of Fifth Quarter Fresh chocolate milk and its health benefits
among the public.
§ To increase awareness that high school football players’ cognitive and motor
function improved over the course of a season after drinking the chocolate milk.
§ The University of Maryland’s strategy was to highlight the Fifth Quarter Fresh
chocolate milk as a health benefit through the media.
§ The university wanted to spread awareness about the benefits of this product and
what it can do for athlete's health.
§ The only tactic they were able to use was a press release which quickly got
discredited by Health News Review.
§ The campaign was not successful. The strategy and tactics the University of
Maryland used to promote Fifth Quarter Fresh chocolate milk as a health benefit
failed altogether.
§ The University of Maryland was working alongside Fifth Quarter Fresh who funded
this study that had no scientific evidence to support its claims and persuade
schools and the press that milk helps with concussions (Belluz, 2016).
§ I would make the campaign more effective by doing a press release as well, but not
until the research was fully conducted and peer-reviewed to avoid the damage to
the university’s reputation for the shortcomings in its research.
§ In the press release, I would have also fully disclosed any conflicts of interest such
as the professor who led the research, Jae Kun Shim, who did not disclose the
money he was receiving from Fifth Quarter Fresh.
§ The professor broke multiple of the Public Relations Society of America’s code of ethics including
advocacy, honesty, independence, and fairness (PRSSA).
§ The University of Maryland would also not respond to reporters and when it did it was brief, vague
statements that were not of any value to the reporters or the story.
§ The university did not have a crisis communication plan set up, and that is something I would have
implemented into their campaign.
§ I would have chosen a spokesperson from the university, possibly Crystal Brown the chief
communication officer because she would be a good communicator and can make the company look
human and that they make mistakes too.
§ There also could have been proactive damage control by using a team at the University of Maryland who
could have responded to the situation in a timely manner through social media and reporters to de-
escalate the situation.
§ They could have de-escalated the situation by upfront and honest from the beginning like the Health
News Review said in one of their articles.
§ I also would have released an apology from the university and the research team for being unethical in
their research and to be open and transparent with the public about their mistake to try and repair their
reputation.
§ I would still use the University of Maryland’s strategy of increasing interest in Fifth
Quarter Fresh, but I would change the tactics to make them ethical and implement
a crisis communication plan.
§ By using my strategy/tactics the university could have avoided the damage to their
reputation that it received after not having a crisis communication before the
beginning of their campaign and avoiding reporters.
§ Overall, the University of Maryland was putting their self-interest above the public
during this campaign by trying to seem transparent but ignoring the small news
organizations reaching out to them.
§ If the university was transparent and honest with the public, it could have avoided
this situation from the beginning.
§ Ardèvol-Abreu, A. (2015). Framing theory in communication research. origins,
development, and current situation in Spain. Framing Theory in Communication
Research. Origins, Development and Current Situation in Spain, 423–450.
https://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2015-1053en
§ PRSSA. (n.d.). PRSA Code of Ethics. PRSA Code of Ethics. Retrieved February 22,
2022, from https://www.prsa.org/about/prsa-code-of-ethics
§ Scheufele, D. A., & Iyengar, S. (2014). The state of framing research. Oxford
Handbooks Online, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199793471.013.47
§ Swann, P. (2020). Cases in public relations management: The rise of social media and
activism. Routledge.
§