"Life-line of the nation" poster
The pattern
This still is filed under Us-versus-them positioning.
Define
The buyer is invited into a side. The product is what we use. The named other is what we refuse.
Mechanism
Identity contrast. Choosing the offer is choosing a group. The out-group does as much work as the claim.
Verdict
The category is crowded
Why it works
The locomotive charges almost straight at the viewer from a low angle, the plate on its front reads 1942, and the flatcars behind it carry tanks. That lets the railroads claim their part in the war without a word of argument: this year's freight is the army's equipment, so "LIFE-LINE OF THE NATION" reads as a description rather than a boast.
The big idea
A locomotive marked 1942, hauling flatcars of tanks straight at the viewer, makes the railroads the line the whole war effort runs on.
Lines from the ad
LIFE-LINE OF THE NATIONAMERICAN RAILROADSSteal this when
Your industry works out of sight and you want the public to credit it for a national effort, by showing the cargo you carry rather than claiming your importance.
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