Loose talk can cost lives
Cartoon security poster: two men in hats stand close, one with a hand cupped at his mouth whispering to the other while both glance sideways, above two yellow tape-style bands reading 'Loose talk can cost lives'. The tell is the stated cost in lives attached to an everyday whisper, a fear-appeal aimed at civilians.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc., artist William Steig
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- NGO
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Home front, Security and surveillance
- 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)
British and American Ambulance Corps, Inc.. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1304 (NAID 514910).
Text on the object
LOOSE TALK CAN COST LIVES [signature:] W Steig [imprint:] (c)1942 [imprint:] DISTRIBUTED IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL DEFENSE, AND AS A MEANS OF OBTAINING FUNDS FOR AMBULANCES WHEREVER NEEDED. BRITISH AND AMERICAN AMBULANCE CORPS, INC., 420 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY [imprint:] LITHO. IN U.S.A.
