---
title: Ha! Ha! Ha! Materials wasted... means lives wasted!
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ha-ha-ha-materials-wasted-1941/
description: Caricatures of a Japanese officer and a German officer in Nazi-style uniform laugh over a 'Spy-o-gram' reading that careless waste of materials aids
section: Collection
---

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3. Ha! Ha! Ha! Materials wasted... means lives wasted!

**Content note:** Cartoon caricatures of a Japanese officer (exaggerated teeth, squint, glasses) and a German officer laughing, with blood dripping from their hands. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Ha! Ha! Ha! Materials wasted... means lives wasted!, 1941 US poster: Caricatures of a Japanese officer and a German officer](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ha-ha-ha-materials-wasted-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ha-ha-ha-materials-wasted-1941.jpg)

# Ha! Ha! Ha! Materials wasted... means lives wasted!

Caricatures of a Japanese officer and a German officer in Nazi-style uniform laugh over a 'Spy-o-gram' reading that careless waste of materials aids the Axis; both have blood dripping from their hands. The tell is the blame placed on the Axis leaders as beneficiaries of waste, in racial caricature, with the slogan tying waste to lives lost. The Japanese figure uses exaggerated teeth, squint and glasses.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

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

```
HA! HA! HA!
SPY-O-GRAM
CARELESS WASTE OF MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES IN U.S. INDUSTRIES AIDING AXIS
MATERIALS WASTED...
MEANS LIVES WASTED!

[signature:] Packer
[imprint:] [illegible] Copyright "Victory-Builders" Division Bressler Editorial Cartoons, Inc., New York
```

[← Guilty! Of mishandling tools](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/guilty-of-mishandling-tools-1941/) [Half the metal in every ship, every tank, every gun is scrap! Throw your scrap into the fight! →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/half-the-metal-in-every-ship-scrap-1941/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Der Warner (broadsheet lampoon on the Jesuits after Breitenfeld and Rain)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/der-warner-anti-jesuit-broadsheet-1632/) (Holy Roman Empire · 1632 · Scapegoating, Fear appeal)
- [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling)
- [Proclamation de Sonthonax en créole, Cap-Français (Proclamation of Commissioner Sonthonax in Creole)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sonthonax-proclamation-creole-1793/) (France · Aug 29, 1793 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating). Content note: Colonial-era proclamation on slavery and emancipation in Saint-Domingue; speaks of slaves, whips and 'Nègues' in period terms.
- ["Old Jack, the famous New Orleans mouser" (pro-Jackson print, 1832)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/old-jack-mouser-bank-clay-rats-1832/) (United States · 1832 · Name-calling, Scapegoating)
- [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (British India · Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating)
- [Union and liberty! And union and slavery!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/union-and-liberty-1864/) (United States · 1864 · Scapegoating, Fear appeal)
- [The Great November Contest. Patriotism versus Bummerism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/great-november-contest-bummerism-1868/) (United States · 1868 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating, Name-calling). Content note: 1868 print with a racial slur, racist caricature and dialect; the Library of Congress describes it as strongly racist.
- [You must make your choice. Birds of a feather flock together](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/miller-birds-of-a-feather-1872/) (United States · 1872 · Transfer, Scapegoating)