Be Brief
A narrow strip shows the words 'BE BRIEF' in white brush lettering on a grey spray ground beside a telephone handset with a red cord. It is an instruction to keep calls short and gives no reason on the item. The nearest technique is card-stacking, since the request is made without the argument that would explain it; this is an instructional notice and carries little persuasion beyond that.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- General Post Office (printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Stafford & Co. Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham); artist Maurice Man
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Science and technology
- Event
- World War II
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- 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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain basis stated by NARA as Unrestricted; UK wartime poster, hosted by owner decision
General Post Office (printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Stafford & Co. Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham); artist Maurice Man. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-98.
Text on the object
BE BRIEF [imprint:] Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Stafford & Co., Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham. 51- 3802 [signature:] Maurice Man [reference:] P.R.D. 307
