The Man Who Wasted Power! Don't Be Fuel-ish
A cartoon by H. M. Bateman shows a cowering factory hand beside a smoking machine while three colleagues, two in overalls and one in a white coat, point at him in anger. The poster applies group disapproval to one individual to enforce a norm (bandwagon/peer pressure), and the pun 'Fuel-ish' ties wasted power to 'weapons we need for victory'.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Ministry of Fuel and Power, printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Chromoworks Ltd; artist H. M. Bateman
- 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, Economy and finance
- 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)
Ministry of Fuel and Power; artist H. M. Bateman. National Archives and Records Administration, NAID 44266406 (44-PF-151a).
Text on the object
THE MAN WHO WASTED POWER ! DON'T BE FUEL-ISH WASTED POWER MEANS LESS FUEL TO MAKE THE WEAPONS WE NEED FOR VICTORY H.M. BATEMAN PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE by CHROMOWORKS LTD. LONDON, 51-3171. ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF FUEL AND POWER.
