All resources made use of either audio or visual. It was the era whereby poems were no longer effectual and popular means of expression. Hence, propaganda was conveyed in posters, songs aired on radio and movies in theatres worldwide. Audio and visual aids provided a lucid picture of happenings and task definition enabling the government to easily persuade the people to do their biddings. The movies were directed by famous people (such as Warner Brothers, Charles Chaplin), whom civilians thought were trust-worthy and thus easily swayed.
Moreover, most propaganda accentuates the importance of war bonds in the War. Bugs Bunny in “Any Bonds Today” (Appendix 6) was saying that without the bonds, we ‘can’t make tomorrow’s plan’, which is to win the war. Even in this song there is a propaganda poster (Appendix 5) on war, patriotism and to procure war bonds (Appendix 4). Smith’s poster was specifically on war bonds but just in a different form. The poster illustrates the repercussions without war bonds and shows a Nazi shadow cast over children. Therefore, buying bonds will safeguard them from the Axis.
Patriotism resulted in exceedingly successful recruitment and maintenance of peace in the country. Patriotism prevented war at home while combating enemies. It was evoked through a poster signifying victory (Appendix 5), shown as the backdrop of Clampett’s movie and also through criticising and making Axis Powers look inferior. Hence, Allies gain confidence.
Not all movies were totally censored by the government and thus contained more truths. However, animated cartoons were still successful. The audience were predominantly children and upon listening to the catchy tunes and vivid pictures, persuade their parents into buying bonds for their safety. The success of war propaganda for bonds reaped 185 billion dollars - enabling the vast expansion of arms. Chaplin’s speech gave Germany hope that ‘when dictators die, liberty will return to the people’; this helped alleviate tension in Europe. The song (Appendix 2) was performed by a band formed by the government for propaganda purposes. Their songs were highly popular at that era and helped stir patriotism in the Americans. All the propaganda, even if not asking to acquire war bonds, was useful in convincing the people that the Axis were inferior to the Allies.
