Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Keep it clean! Don't waste food, 1944 US poster: Food-waste poster

Keep it clean! Don't waste food

Food-waste poster: a pin-up style woman in a red dress raises a finger beside a clean galvanized can marked 'U.S.N.', under the headline 'Keep it clean!' and a banner 'Don't waste food'. The technique is faint: the glamour figure lends attention and approval to the instruction, a transfer from appeal to compliance.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1944
Period
Second World War
Made by
U.S. Navy (artist Dyer, USNR)
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
Military
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, 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)
U.S. Navy (artist Dyer, USNR). National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1192 (NAID 514798).

Text on the object

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

Keep it
Clean!
U.S.N.
DON'T WASTE FOOD
[signature: DYER USNR]
[imprint: U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944 - O - 620867]

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