The good Lord Kitchener's pithy words epitomize 'no bullshit'.But, would they have had any effect on the generations that had "Be all that you can be", "Aim High", "Not Just a Job. It's an Adventure" and my favorite: "Army of one" pitched at them.
Would they have known what the hell he was talking about?
4/26
In response to Don, "The Many-Armed Schoolteacher"'s comment:
All true. On the other hand, do you have any evidence that the poster you picture was a recruiting success? Part of the reason those other slogans exist is that careful market research showed that they would work. I often don't enjoy things created by market research, but they tend to be popular, and for a recruiting poster, popularity is a virtue.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any answers, but I got plenty questions.
Anyway, TAG.
The answers are easy, Don. Just make them up.
ReplyDeleteI suspect this effort of Kitchener's wasn't run by the focus group enough.
It got better though. He also starred in the Brit poster, "I Want You..." -an idea later famously ripped off by George Mongomery Flagg.
I have no numbers for this, but Lord Kitchener was a *major* national hero in the UK. 'Superstar' would not be over the line. He was considered a national hero for his successes in Sudan and South Africa; he was also very influential and fortunate in the beginning of WWI. As these things go though, he made numerous political enemies (not unlike Churchill).
ReplyDeleteThere's a Wiki article on him (and the poster) that isn't too off-base. A better read would be:
Kitchener: Architect of Victory, Artisan of Peace by John Pollock. I'm a fan of him (and Churchill).
Regardless, based on HH's 'star-power,' especially in 1914-15, I'm sure the poster was effective.
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the US copy of this poster the first printing of "Uncle Sam?"
MoE