Beware the Squander Bug

A four-panel strip shows a green insect-devil covered in swastikas urging a worker to spend his extra pay, then gloating 'Sold again, and got the money'. The tell for name-calling is the dehumanised bug carrying the enemy emblem as the face of spending; the tell for fear-appeal is the frame that thrift is a defence against the enemy.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appealName-calling

Date

1939

Period

Second World War

Made by

National Savings Committee, London

Region

Western and Central Europe

Country

United Kingdom

Medium

Poster

Issuer type

State

Regime

Churchill Government

Leader

Winston Churchill

Audience

Domestic public

Purpose

Fundraise

Themes

Economy and finance, Home front

Event

World War II

Regime

Churchill wartime government

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 (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
National Savings Committee, London. Via U.S. National Archives, RG 44.

HERE HE
COMES, WITH
SOME EXTRA
PAY THIS WEEK

LET'S BLUE
SOME MONEY
ON A BIT
OF TRASH

COURSE
IT'S NOT
WORTH IT!
BUT ISN'T
IT FUN TO
SPEND

SOLD
AGAIN,
AND GOT
THE
MONEY

BEWARE THE
SQUANDER BUG

W.F.P. 300  Issued by the National Savings Committee, London
J. H. & S.  51-3682