This Man May Die if You Talk Too Much
Color photograph of a young sailor framed in a riveted ship's porthole, with the headline 'This Man May Die' above and 'if you talk too much' below. The technique is fear-appeal: a single named-by-image individual stands for all those put at risk by careless speech.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of War Information (art: Sarra)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- 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)
Office of War Information. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-160 (NAID 513607).
Text on the object
THIS MAN MAY DIE if you talk too much [signature:] SARRA OWI Poster No. 6. Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C. [imprint:] U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-584861
