The Man Who Wasted Gas! Don't Be Fuel-ish
A cartoon by H. M. Bateman shows three angry workmen pointing at a cowering colleague beside a burning furnace, under the headline 'The Man Who Wasted Gas!'. Group disapproval of one individual is used to enforce a norm (bandwagon/peer pressure), and the pun 'Fuel-ish' links gas-saving to the war effort ('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 Stafford & Co., Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham; 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, printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Stafford & Co., Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), World War II Foreign Posters, local identifier 44-PF-151e.
Text on the object
THE MAN WHO WASTED GAS ! H.M. BATEMAN DON'T BE FUEL-ISH WASTED GAS MEANS LESS FUEL TO MAKE THE WEAPONS WE NEED FOR VICTORY Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Stafford & Co., Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham. 51-3169 Issued by the Ministry of Fuel and Power
