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Central Arizona Light and Power Company’s Patriotic Ads
Arizona Capitol Reports Staff//September 1, 2006//[read_meter]
Central Arizona Light and Power Company’s Patriotic Ads
Arizona Capitol Reports Staff//September 1, 2006//[read_meter]
The Central Arizona Light and Power Co. was a major advertiser in The Messenger, a publication that would later become Arizona Capitol Times. During the World War II years the company ran an ad in nearly every issue. The ads contained the phrases “civilian defense sense,” running across the top and “remember Pearl Harbor!” at the bottom.
On page four of the Saturday, July 18, 1942, issue, the power company’s ad featured a picture of a man driving with his thumb extended like a hitchhiker, and an American soldier walking, with his head turned toward the man in the car. The prevalent text of the ad read “Hey SOLDIER! Goin’ My Way≠”
The ad encouraged offering rides to soldiers, even if the soldier wasn’t hitchhiking.
Another ad stated: “It’s an even-money wager that the next soldier you pick up will be one of the nicest boys you ever meet.”
The ad finished with this bold-typed warning: “You may find that your soldier-rider is buying more War Bonds than you are. You know how to avoid any such embarrassment as that!”
