Satire - A New Type of Propaganda

This image created by Dr. Seuss is an example of the new style of propaganda that arose during World War II. Rather than just appealing to one's sense of nationalism and loyalty to the country, this image uses satire to convince people to support the war effort. Dr. Seuss is making fun of the hypocritical people that say that they will do anything for their country, but then get annoyed when asked to invest money in the war by buying war bonds. Instead of using pictures of gallant soldiers in front of quaint villages, he is using cartoon figures that look almost ridiculous. To me, this use of satire and humor is a more effective form of propaganda than the previous examples of propaganda. It does not single out one group of people, like young, strong males that are able to fight, and allows everyone to help in the war. It also does not demand that people must donate or must join the army by declaring it "your duty"; it lacks the accusatory tone many previous examples had. It instead uses humor, by making fun of how money is more important to people than life, to more subtly persuade people. It seems that using humor as propaganda was common, but it is possible that humor was used because Dr. Seuss was the creator of this piece, and he is a political cartoonist.
Another interesting difference between this example of propaganda and previous examples is that rather than stressing that all the men join the army, it focuses more on giving money that can then be invested in the war. This could be because there was a draft instated at the time, so it was not as necessary to encourage people to join the war since they were being forced to anyway. Because of this, the government may have need more support from the home front, which is why many more propaganda posters of the time were geared towards women and giving money than to convincing people to enlist.
It is very interesting to see how different propaganda became in just a decade. Propaganda was no longer just a nationalist appeal for help, but a humorous and enjoyable form of media. This new form of propaganda was more effective than the old one simply because it was more enjoyable and could not only invoke feelings of pride for one's country but also a sense of amusement, a powerful emotion.