A careless word... A needless sinking
Painted poster of a burning cargo ship at sea with smoke and flames, and survivors in the foreground crowded in a lifeboat, some rowing, one slumped over. The headline 'A careless word...' runs across the top and '...A NEEDLESS SINKING' across the bottom. Fear-appeal: it links casual talk to the loss of ships and the death of crews.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of War Information (artist: Anton Otto Fischer)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Home front, Security and surveillance
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-155 (NAID 513601).
Text on the object
A careless word.... ....A NEEDLESS SINKING [signature:] ANTON OTTO FISCHER [imprint:] OWI Poster No. 34. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1942-O-502219
