Don't Burn Up the Miles: it burns up your tyres
A fan-shaped chart on the left shows rubber wastage rising from normal wear at 30 mph to 70% wasted at 70 mph, beside the slogan 'Don't burn up the miles - it burns up your tyres'. The chart gives only the wastage side of the speed trade-off and cites no source for its percentages, which is the selective-presentation tell, though the figures are numeric and checkable.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- H.M. Stationery Office (government issue; printed by Lowe & Brydone Printers Ltd, London N.W.10)
- 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)
H.M. Stationery Office, via U.S. National Archives (RG 44), c. 1939-1945.
Text on the object
HOW INCREASED SPEED INCREASES RUBBER WASTAGE WEAR NORMAL 24% WASTED 41% WASTED 57% WASTED 70% WASTED 30 40 50 60 70 MILES PER HOUR DON'T BURN UP THE MILES -it burns up your tyres
