Think Before You Speak - Careless Talk Costs Lives!
Two red telephone receivers face each other with speech bubbles reading 'Think before you speak' and 'Careless talk costs lives!'. The tell is the fear appeal of the slogan, which attaches loss of life to casual speech, with no named sponsor on the sheet.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- British government (printer's code Wt. 42475/P973, 3/41, C.W.C.; no named ministry on the sheet)
- 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
- Security and surveillance, 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
- Held by NARA, Unrestricted; UK wartime publication (1939-1945), hosted by owner decision
British government (unnamed sponsor), National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-466.
Text on the object
Think before you speak Careless talk costs LIVES ! Wt. 42475/P973. 45,350. 3/41. C.W.C. 51-8729.
