Don't Take the Squander Bug When You Go Shopping
A four-panel strip shows a woman war worker out shopping while a green, fanged insect-devil covered in swastikas urges her to spend and then gloats 'And it doesn't help the war a bit'. The tell for name-calling is the dehumanised bug wearing the enemy emblem as the face of spending; the tell for fear-appeal is the claim that casual shopping aids the enemy.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- National Savings Committee, London (printer mark J.H. & S.)
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- Economy and finance, 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)
National Savings Committee, London. Via U.S. National Archives, RG 44.
Text on the object
I'M DOING A BIT OF SHOPPING THIS AFTERNOON THIS IS WHERE I COME IN SPEND IT HERE- PRICES ARE FANTASTIC I DON'T SUPPOSE IT'S WORTH HALF THE MONEY TA-TA FOR NOW AND IT DOESN'T HELP THE WAR A BIT DON'T TAKE THE SQUANDER BUG WHEN YOU GO SHOPPING W.F.P. 301 Issued by the National Savings Committee, London J. H. & S. 51-3681
