Diphtheria Causes Unnecessary Suffering and Anxiety
A close photograph of a small child gazing at the viewer, with two blurred children behind and a washbasin and scrubbing brush in front, is overprinted with a triangle and the red text 'Diphtheria causes unnecessary suffering and anxiety'. The headline names the harm and the child's face supplies the emotional weight (fear appeal); the word 'unnecessary' implies it can be prevented.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Multi Machine Plates Ltd, London (issuing department not named in the imprint)
- 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
- Health, 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
- Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Multi Machine Plates Ltd, London (issuing department not named in the imprint). National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), World War II Foreign Posters, local identifier 44-PF-207g.
Text on the object
DIPHTHERIA CAUSES UNNECESSARY SUFFERING AND ANXIETY PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY MULTI MACHINE PLATES LTD. LONDON E.C.4. 51-2571
