Using shock for monetary gain or to sway public opinion is not a new concept, especially during a time of war. This tasteless ad for War Bonds appeared in the Fiction House pulp magazine Planet Stories #8 (Fall 1944). What is not clear is the identity or occupation of the victim in the ad. Is it a staged warning that Americans could be killed on U.S. soil or is it a photo of a deceased soldier on the battle field? It is open to interpretation, but it is pretty clear that the reader was supposed to assume the latter and that the figure in the field is a soldier who died because they did not support the war effort.
Monday, March 31, 2008
This is an offical U. S. Treasury advertisement
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Jeepers! Investing money in War Bonds is a lot more dangerous than I thought!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Dr. Zaius' desire for real corpses in advertisements [ http://thatsmyskull.blogspot.com/2008/03/richie-rich-is-next.html ] has been served. Or not, maybe that's just Lt. Ronald Reagan posing for a Signal Corps photographer.
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