Cover coughs, cover sneezes. Never give a germ a break!
Photograph of three soldiers at a mess table, the centre one sneezing a visible spray across the food trays while the men beside him recoil, under 'Cover coughs, cover sneezes' and 'Never give a germ a break!'. The technique is fear-appeal: the spray and the reactions dramatise contagion in shared quarters.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- War Department
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Health, War and the military
- 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)
War Department. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-601 (NAID 514081).
Text on the object
COVER COUGHS COVER SNEEZES NEVER GIVE A GERM A BREAK! Distribution: Continental: In accordance with Part II, ASF Cir. No. 313, 1944 and Section I, ASF Cir. No. 181, 1944. Overseas: T of Opns (10); Depts (10); S+C (10); Base Comds (10); Island Comds (10); Def Comds (10); Sectors (10); Base Sectors (10); Armies (1); Corps (1); D (1); B (1); R (1); Sep Bn (1). [imprint:] U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944—O—619226 Approved War Department Graphic Training Aid 8-14 WAR DEPARTMENT · 12 OCTOBER 1944 Reproduction without permission prohibited
