Content note: Racial caricature of a Japanese officer (glasses, buck teeth, yellow-brown skin) striking Uncle Sam. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Shall we let him get away with it? Let's go, everybody, keep 'em firing!
Colour poster of a giant, furious Uncle Sam face being slapped by a small Japanese officer drawn with glasses, buck teeth and a yellow-brown face; red stars carry the names Philippines, Pearl Harbor and Wake. A roundel shows a fighter plane and a tank firing. The tells are the racial caricature of the enemy (name-calling) and the national symbol standing for the injured country (transfer).
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Oldsmobile Division, General Motors Corporation, Lansing, Michigan
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front, Race and ethnicity
- 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)
Oldsmobile Division, General Motors Corporation. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1720 (NAID 515390).
Text on the object
SHALL WE LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT? PHILIPPINES PEARL HARBOR WAKE LET'S GO, EVERYBODY— KEEP 'EM FIRING! COPYRIGHT, 1942—OLDSMOBILE DIVISION, GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, LANSING, MICHIGAN LITHO IN U.S.A. -11-
