Committee on Public Information (CPI)
What is CPI?
The Committee on Public Information, or also known as the Creel Committee, was created by President Woodrow Wilson, headed by George Creel. It is a US government agency created in WWI with the objection to promote the war effort, or increase American participation in the war. In order to gain public support against foreign rivals, they blended propaganda techniques with a sophisticated understanding of human psychology. From newsprints to movies, they used all the mediums they possibly could to spread their message.
Analysis:
The following poster is one of the many propaganda examples created by the CPI. Titled “Destroy this mad brute” in 1917, this propaganda poster portrays a German soldier as the vicious gorilla, carrying a half-naked woman. Overall, the picture at first sight immediately provokes fear to the people as the “mad brute” of Germany looks giant and savage and holds a helpless-looking human body. The poster is further embellished by including a bloody club wielded by the gorilla, which says “kultur” (culture in German) to represent their uncivilized state, and a spiky military helmet (pickelhaube) that says “militarism”. The woman in the arms of the gorilla represents Liberty, implying that the Germans are taking liberty away from the US. Altogether, people would feel more committed to enlist for the army because they would fear the image of the barbaric gorilla stealing liberty from them.