Loose Lips Might Sink Ships
Seagram (House of Seagram) for the national victory effort1942
Loose Lips Might Sink Ships is a 1942 poster (colour lithograph) for Seagram for the national victory effort.
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The line
Loose lips might sink ships
Why it works
"Loose lips might sink ships" belonged to the security-of-information campaign that the War Advertising Council, forerunner of today's Ad Council, ran from 1942 to 1945, urging Americans to keep quiet about anything that could help the enemy. This version was published by the distiller Seagram "as part of its contribution to the national victory effort" and signed by the artist Essargee: a ship rolls over and sinks into a swell of black smoke, the words tumbling down the page with it. The council encouraged advertisers to carry the theme and even tie it to their products, and says its research found that twice as many people exposed to the careless-talk messages knew what not to discuss as those not reached, though that is the organisation's own claim. It is studied as a slogan still remembered today, and as an early model of a brand lending its name and posters to a government message.
Techniques
- Fear appeal A ship rolling over into black smoke shows the deadly result of a careless word, warning the viewer to stay silent.
- Purpose and cause A distiller puts its name to the government's careless-talk message, presenting the poster as its contribution to the national war effort.
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