Zipped Lips (Canadian careless-talk poster, no printed title)

A cartoon in blue and red shows a uniformed man with a zip drawn across his mouth, while a face at lower left has a red question mark in its ear. The poster has no slogan; the tell is the zipped mouth beside the listening ear, which implies that anyone nearby may be hearing.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal

Date

1942

Period

Second World War

Made by

Director of Public Information, Ottawa, under authority of Hon. J. T. Thorson, Minister of National War Services; artist signs 'B'

Region

North America

Country

Canada

Medium

Poster

Issuer type

State

Regime

Mackenzie King Government

Leader

William Lyon Mackenzie King

Audience

Mixed

Purpose

Mobilize or secure compliance

Themes

Security and surveillance, War and the military, Home front

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, 50 years from publication, expired; no URAA restoration)
Director of Public Information, Department of National War Services (Canada), c. 1942. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.

CODE
AG-10E
PRINTED IN CANADA.
ISSUED BY THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE HON. J.T. THORSON, MINISTER OF NATIONAL WAR SERVICES, OTTAWA.

[signature in the drawing:] B