Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Safety record: hours lost through avoidable accidents. 'Get yourself a Zero too!', 1944 US poster: War Department safety

Safety record: hours lost through avoidable accidents. 'Get yourself a Zero too!'

War Department safety poster: a smiling woman war worker in a cap points her thumb at a chalkboard on which the heading 'Hours lost through avoidable accidents' ends in a hand-drawn zero. A smiling airman in goggles and flying helmet sits at lower left. The slogan 'Get yourself a Zero too!' borrows the name of the Japanese fighter plane for a perfect safety record, a transfer of combat success onto factory work.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1944
Period
Second World War
Made by
War Department Safety Council, artist Adolph Treidler
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes
Home front, Labor
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 Safety Council, artist Adolph Treidler. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1003 (NAID 514529).

Text on the object

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

SAFETY RECORD
Hours Lost Through
AVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS
"GET YOURSELF
A 'ZERO' TOO!"
[signature: ADOLPH TREIDLER]
WAR DEPARTMENT SAFETY COUNCIL
[emblem text, small: U.S. ARMY SAFETY PROGRAM]
[imprint: U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1944—O—[illegible]]

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