Careless Words May Cause Disaster!
A sailor in an H.M.C.S. cap holds a finger to his lips beside a convoy of ships and a wake. The headline names disaster as the consequence of loose talk, so fear appeal rests on an unspecified but grave outcome rather than a shown one.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Director of Public Information, under authority of Hon. J. T. Thorson, Minister of National War Services (Canada)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- Canada
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Mackenzie King Government
- Leader
- William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Security and surveillance, War and the military
- 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
- Public domain (Canadian Crown copyright, expired; published 1940s, more than 50 years ago)
Director of Public Information, Ottawa, c. 1941. U.S. National Archives, RG 44.
Text on the object
CARELESS WORDS may cause DISASTER! H.M.C.S. ISSUED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, UNDER AUTHORITY OF HON. J. T. THORSON, MINISTER OF NATIONAL WAR SERVICES, OTTAWA. PRINTED IN CANADA AG-11EL
