Stop Criminal!, 1950 US poster: A Korean War poster in Cebuano

Stop Criminal! (Cebuano poster distributed in Asia)

A Korean War poster in Cebuano. A giant hand marked with the United Nations abbreviation holds a spiked club above a Communist soldier in a red-starred cap, labelled as the aggressor, who stands over a bleeding figure labelled Republic of Korea; flag-bearers from many nations, among them a figure in the stars and stripes, run toward the scene. The text says 53 UN members condemned the Communist attack and that it must be stopped. The tell is name-calling ('criminal' or equivalent), with bandwagon in the ring of 53 national flags and fear-appeal in the blood.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Name-calling Bandwagon Fear appeal

Date: 1950
Period: Cold War
Made by: U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia series
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Truman Administration
Leader: Harry S. Truman
Audience: Foreign public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Theme: War and the military
Event: Korean War
Source: Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
Source: U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, c. 1950-55. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 5730081, 306-PPA-182).

Text on the object

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

HUNONG! KRIMINAL!

53 ka sakop sa Tinipong Kanasuran nanghimaraut sa Komunistang panulong nga kriminal batok sa Republika sa Koriya!

Ang mga manunu-long nga Komunista kinahanglan pahunongon!

Pinaagi sa Tinipong Kanasuran - Kalinaw !

[on hand:] T.K.
[on soldier:] MGA KOMUNISTANG MANUNULONG
[on victim:] REPUBLIKA SA KORIYA

[handwritten, lower left:] Visayan

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

Stop! Criminal! 53 members of the United Nations cursed (condemned) the Communist aggressor, a criminal against the Republic of Korea! The Communist aggressors must be stopped! Through the United Nations - Peace! [hand:] U.N. [soldier:] The Communist aggressors [victim:] Republic of Korea

Handwritten pencil 'Visayan' is an archival annotation. 'Tinipong Kanasuran' (abbreviated T.K.) is the Cebuano term for the United Nations.