Careless Talk Costs Lives: "Strictly between you and me...." (Fougasse)
Two men in overcoats talk under a window in which a third figure listens; the cartoon's speech reads 'Strictly between you and me....' above the slogan 'Careless Talk Costs Lives'. The tell for fear-appeal is the unseen listener and the loss-of-life slogan offered with a single remedy, silence; the cartoon form keeps the tone light.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Artist Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird); no imprint visible on this copy
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Security and surveillance, Home front
- 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
- Held by NARA, Unrestricted; UK origin, printed 1939-1945; hosted by owner decision
Artist Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird). National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-129.
Text on the object
[signature:] Fougasse "Strictly between you + me ...." CARELESS TALK COSTS LIVES
