EXECUTIVE BOARD.
Tuesday. 17th June, 1941

ANTI-GOSSIP CAMPAIGN

For some time the General Production Division have been preparing a scheme of Anti-Gossip publicity to replace the haphazard and semi- humorous approach to the subject which has held the field since the war began. This approach has produced some amusing posters but is not generally believed to have been effective. The new scheme in its final form was considered by the Executive Planning Committee last Monday. It was agreed that:-

(1) The campaign must inevitably consist in a very large measure of press advertisements.

(2) That the scheme of press advertising submitted was as good as any which we could hope to get; that is to say, as likely to be effective and as unlikely to annoy the public.

(3) That if this scheme was to be effective it must be carried out on a large scale: a small scale advertising campaign would be useless.

The Committee foresaw, however, the following objections; -

(a) It would be difficult for us to undertake this campaign when at the same time urging other Government Departments to cut down their press advertising. It was recognised that press advertising was much more necessary for the Anti-gossip campaign than for most of the publicity undertaken for other Government Departments, but that this would not allay their irritation.

(b) The cost of the press advertising was inevitably so high that it would be queried by the Treasury who would naturally want to know on what authority we had prepared such an ambitious scheme. The authority is in fact contained in a Cabinet Minute (W.C.84 (39) Item B., 15/11/39), but as this decision was taken some time ago the Committee felt that the Cabinet (or Civil Defence Committee) ought to review the whole question of anti-gossip publicity before proceeding with the present scheme.

Several members of Planning Committee were doubtful if an anti-gossip campaign could ever be made effective, or was in fact desirable. They urged that most people want to talk about their work, and that to stop people talking was to cause irritation and gloom. Gossip was a kind of lubricant without which the normal machinery of human intercourse would blow up. These members of the Committee felt that the harm done to the spirit of the country by prohibiting gossip would greatly outweigh any advantage which the enemy might gain by the repetition of valuable information. Since the Cabinet issued the original instruction this is a point of policy which they must decide.

On one point the Committee was unanimous, that should the Cabinet decide that an anti-gossip campaign was to be carried out, this scheme should be put into operation at a suitable moment; but should they decide against it, then no more anti-gossip publicity of any kind should be issued, as the present haphazard method of issuing posters was a waste of time and money. The Cabinet would therefore have to turn down the whole anti-gossip idea in such a way as to enable us to resist any demands for anti-gossip publicity from the Services.

(Sgd) K. C.

10.6.41