Most common in these ads
Goals
- Move people to act for a cause 28 ads and videos
- Stand for something 1 ad or video
Industries
- Government and public service 29 ads and videos
Emotions
- Duty 11 ads and videos
- Excitement 4 ads and videos
- Anxiety 3 ads and videos
Patterns
- Recruiting duty offer 23 ads and videos
- Demonstration ad 3 ads and videos
- Civilian war-duty equate 2 ads and videos
The ads
Enlist in the WAVES, release a man to fight at sea poster
A woman who enlists in the WAVES frees a man for combat at sea, so her service counts one for one toward the fighting fleet.
"It's a Woman's War Too" recruiting poster
The war belongs to women too, and the proof is a uniformed WAVE at a signal key with headphones on, doing skilled Navy work.
Alaska death-trap wartime propaganda poster
Alaska is not an exposed flank but a baited trap, and the Army, civilians and the Navy are the parts that spring it together.
Alaska death-trap wartime propaganda poster
The most exposed territory on the map is redrawn as the bait in a trap that the Army, civilians and the Navy will spring together.
Army, Civilian, Navy mousetrap wartime poster
Alaska is a loaded mousetrap, and every civilian is one of the three parts, with the Army and Navy, that will snap it shut on the enemy.
Dorie Miller 'Above and Beyond the Call of Duty' poster
One named sailor, his Navy Cross and a burning ship behind him stand for the standard the Navy holds up: going above and beyond the call of duty.
'All together, enlist in the Navy' poster
An American sailor stands arm in arm with laughing sailors from five allied navies, each marked by a small flag, so enlisting means joining a crew already gathered.
'America calls, enlist in the Navy' poster
America herself, crowned and robed in stars, clasps the sailor's hand and rests a hand on his shoulder, so enlisting becomes answering a personal call from the nation.
U.S. Navy 'Dish it Out' recruiting poster
Join the Navy now and be the one firing the big guns, while you still get to choose where you serve.
U.S. Navy 'Enlist in the Navy' poster
The enemy is a crowned tyrant whipping a woman crushed under barbarism and slavery; enlisting puts the reader beside the American holding the gun on him.
U.S. Navy 'Find the range of your patriotism' poster
Gunners find the range of an enemy plane; a young man finds out how far his own patriotism reaches by enlisting in the Navy.
U.S. Navy 'First call' recruiting poster
Uncle Sam needs you in the Navy this minute, and the country will honour those who answer the first call above everyone who comes later.
U.S. Navy 'Gee, I wish I were a man' recruiting poster
A smiling young woman in a sailor's jumper says she would join the Navy if she were a man, which leaves the man reading it no excuse.
'He is keeping the world safe for democracy' poster
One sailor, arms folded, is already keeping the world safe for democracy, and the reader is asked to help that one man rather than serve an abstract cause.
'Help Deliver the Goods. Do It Now' poster
A grinning sailor hoists shells tagged To be Delivered RUSH, so joining up means getting the ammunition to the front, a job that cannot wait.
Navy 'the service for fighting men' recruiting poster
A sailor rides a torpedo like a rodeo bronco, rope swinging overhead, and the line claims the Navy as the service for fighting men.
Navy 'America advances' recruiting poster
America's new standing in the world will need a bigger Navy, and a sailor marching with the flag under the words AMERICA ADVANCES invites the reader into that growth.
Navy 'Man the Guns' recruiting poster
The reader gets a battle-station order before he enlists, "Man the GUNS", shown as a shirtless sailor heaving a heavy shell toward the gun in rough seas.
'Mosquitoes' PT boat recruiting poster
A nickname, "Mosquitoes", turns the PT boat's small size into speed and sting, and makes serving on one sound like the sharpest job in the Navy.
U.S.S. Recruit Naval Recruiting Station poster, Union Square, New York
The recruiting station is named like a warship and pictured as one charging through gun smoke, so walking into Union Square feels like going aboard.
Six grinning sailors from six Allied navies, each marked by a small flag, stand arm in arm: enlisting means joining a winning team, not a lonely fight.
Navy 'Sub Spotted. Let 'em Have It' enlistment poster
The reader lands on a deck mid-attack, sailors hoisting a depth charge marked TNT at a spotted sub, and is asked only to lend a hand.
Navy 'Don't Read American History, Make It' poster
A sailor puts his arm around a young man holding a newspaper and points him to the fleet at sea: stop reading American history and go make it.
Navy recruiting poster, Training young Americans
The Navy is presented as a school for young men: physical training, travel and leadership that pay off later in civilian careers.
United States Navy recruiting poster: Ashore, On Leave
The Navy is pitched through its best moment: a grinning sailor striding ashore on leave with his bags, a warship at sunset behind him.
"These safety shoes have kept me from being a cripple" safety poster
One worker tells another that his safety shoes kept him from being crippled, so the reason to wear them comes from a peer, not a rule.
U.S. Navy 'I want you for the Navy' poster
A confident young woman in a Navy coat and cap says 'I want you', and the small print adds a practical reason to act: promotion for anyone enlisting.
'The Navy Put 'em Across' poster
A grinning sailor carries a soldier through the waves on his back: the Navy got the Army over, and a recruit also gets travel and training.
U.S. Navy 'Help Your Country' enlistment poster
The rough sea and a line of battleships ploughing through it are the whole pitch: this is where you will be if you join the Navy.
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