U.S. World War II Propaganda

During active American involvement in World War II (1941–45), propaganda was used to increase support for the war and commitment to an Allied victory.

Using a vast array of media, propagandists instigated hatred for the enemy and support for America’s allies, urged greater public effort for war production and victory gardens, persuaded people to save some of their material so that more material could be used for the war effort, and sold war bonds.

Patriotism became the central theme of advertising throughout the war, as large scale campaigns were launched to sell war bonds, promote efficiency in factories, reduce ugly rumors, and maintain civilian morale. The war consolidated the advertising industry’s role in American society, deflecting earlier criticism.

Anti-Japanese

Propaganda portrayed the Japanese more than any other Axis power as a foreign, grotesque and uncivilized enemy. Drawing on Japanese samurai traditions, American propagandists portrayed the Japanese as blindly fanatic and ruthless, with a history of desiring overseas conquests. Japanese propaganda, such as Shinmin no Michi or The Way of the Subjects, called for the Japanese people to become “one hundred million hearts beating as one”—which Allied propagandists used to portray the Japanese as a mindless, unified mass. Atrocities were ascribed to the Japanese people as a whole. Even Japanese-Americans would be portrayed as massively supporting Japan, only awaiting the signal to commit sabotage. Japanese atrocities and their fanatical refusal to surrender supported the portrayal of otherwise racist elements in propaganda.

Propaganda based on the attack on Pearl Harbor was used with considerable effectiveness, because its outcome was enormous and impossible to counter.

Initial reports termed it a “sneak attack” and “infamous behavior”. “Remember Pearl Harbor!” became the watchword of the war. Reports of the maltreatment of American prisoners of war also aroused fury, as did reports of atrocities against native populations, with babies being thrown in the air to be caught on bayonets receiving particular attention. When three of the Doolittle Raiders were executed, it evoked a passion for revenge in America.

Source: Wikipedia