Scuttlebutt Sam' Says. They Do Not Serve Who Merely Sit and Waste!" poster
The pattern
This still is filed under Civilian war-duty equate.
Define
A civilian act (saving, making, staying quiet) is framed as the same duty as the front.
Mechanism
Moral equate. The small act inherits the gravity of the large one. The ask is ordinary. The meaning is not.
Verdict
We need mass compliance on an unglamorous behavior and can honestly tie it to a shared stake.
Why it works
It uses a recognizable archetype (the greedy sailor) to shame a specific bad behavior. The play on the famous Milton quote ('They also serve who only stand and wait') adds a layer of ironic wit, making the anti-waste message memorable.
Steal this when
You want to discourage a negative behavior within an in-group by creating an unappealing caricature of that behavior.