Can't You See? You Must Buy Victory Bonds
A bandaged, scowling infantryman with a bayoneted rifle stands against a bright sky and a large Union Jack, with the words 'Can't you SEE? - You MUST buy Victory Bonds'. The tell for transfer is the flag and the wounded soldier lending their standing to a bond purchase; for fear-appeal, the staged battlefield peril with a single prescribed action and no figures on what the bonds fund.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Not stated (artist Al McLaren; Victory Bonds appeal)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- Canada
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Mackenzie King Government
- Leader
- William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- War and the military, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- 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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision (Canadian wartime poster, no rights statement)
Artist Al McLaren (Canada); issuer not stated, National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-593.
Text on the object
Can't you SEE? - You MUST buy VICTORY BONDS [signature:] AL McLAREN
