---
title: '"I hear they want more Bovril. My place is at the front" (Bovril poster, 1915)'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bovril-my-place-is-at-the-front-1915/
description: Two-sheet colour lithograph poster in which a bull walks up to an army recruiting table draped with the Union Flag, where a smiling sergeant and an…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[!["I hear they want more Bovril. My place is at the front" (Bovril poster, 1915)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/bovril-my-place-is-at-the-front-1915.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/bovril-my-place-is-at-the-front-1915.jpg)

# "I hear they want more Bovril. My place is at the front" (Bovril poster, 1915)

Two-sheet colour lithograph poster in which a bull walks up to an army recruiting table draped with the Union Flag, where a smiling sergeant and an officer wait, under the words 'I hear they want more Bovril. My place is at the front' and the tag 'British to the backbone'. The recruiting table, the flag and the national slogan are lent to a beef-extract brand, so enlistment stands in for the product's claim.

- **Date:** 1915
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** Bovril Ltd (London); imprint S.H.B. Ltd
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [United Kingdom](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=united-kingdom)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Corporation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=corporation)
- **Regime:** [Asquith Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=asquith-government)
- **Leader:** [Herbert Henry Asquith](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=herbert-henry-asquith)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [Home front](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=home-front), [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Economy and finance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=economy-finance)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Regime:** [Asquith government](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/asquith-government/)
- **Leader:** [H. H. Asquith](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/asquith-government/#herbert-henry-asquith)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2003668493/), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (published 1915; LoC: No known restrictions on publication) Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-11366 and LC-USZC4-11367 (two sheets joined)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
"I hear they want more
BOVRIL
My place is at the front"

BRITISH TO THE BACKBONE

S.H.B. Ltd. Regd. No. A 508
```

The imprint at lower right is small; 'Ltd.' is superscript.

[← Belgian Red Cross (donations poster, London)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/belgian-red-cross-buchel-1915/) [Bulgaren-Held (Bulgarian Hero) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bulgaren-held-1915/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)