He needs a mind of his own ... he needs Radio Free Europe
A transit advertisement pairs a solemn child's face, a chain and a padlock wrapped round his head with "He needs a mind of his own" and "He needs Radio Free Europe", inviting readers to write for information. The chain and padlock carry the stigma of captivity onto the child, and the public-service label and Advertising Council mark present the broadcaster as a civic cause without naming its main funder.
- Date
- 1970
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Radio Free Europe (with the Advertising Council; placed as a public service by Transit Advertising)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Advertisement
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Nixon Administration
- Leader
- Richard Nixon
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- Media and information
- Event
- Cold War
- Techniques
- TransferNarrative laundering
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- U.S. publication without copyright notice; LoC: no known restrictions on publication
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Text on the object
He needs a mind of his own. In East Europe, there's a whole generation of youngsters like him. To make his own decisions, he needs the facts, news, world opinion. He needs Radio Free Europe. For information, write Box 1970, Mt. Vernon, N.Y. [Advertising Council logo] A PUBLIC SERVICE OF TRANSIT ADVERTISING
Read from a 1024 px LoC scan; colour calibration bars in the margin are not part of the poster. The small credit line at lower right is barely legible but consistent with LoC's note '"A public service of Transit Advertising."'.
