Advertising CBI - China-Burma-India Theater of World War II

Advertising CBI
The words on the World War II poster at left were taken from an address to the nation made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 9, 1941, only two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The American people responded as they had never done before nor have since. More than sixteen million Americans served in the Armed Forces of the United States and America became the "Arsenal of Democracy."

American factories switched from building their normal products to producing every sort of war materiel. The companies that owned those factories advertised their products and patriotism in many war-time publications. Just about every magazine ad featured, or at least made reference to, the war.

Even the lesser-known China-Burma-India Theater caught the advertiser's eye. Below are some World War II era magazine ads related to the CBI Theater and also some other interesting advertising.

Click on any image to view it enlarged in full screen

At right is an ad for Champion Spark Plugs. While it makes no specific reference to CBI, it does mention "rugged" trucks at work on all fronts. The illustration at the top of the ad (and shown below) depicts a U.S. Army truck climbing a steep grade, perhaps on the Burma Road. Other trucks can be seen on a road in the background. Also in the background are high mountains, maybe the Himalayas. What appear to be Chinese soldiers and a mountain temple are next to the truck.

Illustration from Champion Spark Plugs ad

There's no mistaking the fact that this one is about the CBI as the Burma Road is the featured subject. The top of this B.F. Goodrich ad contains a photo of the famous 21 Curves at Annan, China (sometimes called the 24-zig).

The ad states:
"The Burma Road is an incredible highway. It's a 700-mile corkscrew twisting perilously through jagged mountain ranges. It's narrow, unpaved, 'Scratched out of the mountains with their fingernails,' as an American engineer described it. Yet this road with its treacherous curves and steep grades, often blocked by landslides and pockmarked by bombs, soon earned the name of 'China's Lifeline.'"

Many interesting photos of this part of the Burma Road exist, all from a similar angle. Apparently this photo was taken while there was no traffic on the road, as the trucks navigating the lower part of the curves appear to be drawn-in !

Click on the image of the ad and take a closer look...

This GMC ad does not specifically mention CBI or the Burma Road, but trucks on a dirt road are shown in the upper picture. The lower picture in the ad shows a tractor-trailer truck. Compare it with an actual photo of trucks along the Burma Road (below).

This ad is from after the war. Actually, OVER 50 YEARS AFTER THE WAR! It features Dodge Trucks and specifically mentions the Burma Road.

"The distinctive design first appeared on the T234 ¾-ton truck that Dodge built for the Chinese Army. (The truck was also known as the Burma Road truck.)"

This ad is not related to CBI but interestingly illustrates what could be called "Censored Advertising."

It looks like Pontiac submitted the copy for the ad to a military censor who crossed-out any information that might be of help to the enemy. They then prepared the ad with the censored information blacked-out.

The result is doubly patriotic advertising: Pontiac is building arms for the war effort and also will not jeopardize that effort by bragging about it in magazines.

In case the reader did not get the message, it was spelled out for them near the bottom of the ad:

"Seeking to cooperate fully in the war effort, Pontiac has voluntarily censored this advertisement."

Here is another example of "Censored Advertising." This one apologized by indicating:

"Sorry we can't be more explicit. Revelation of details might be of aid to the enemy... endanger American lives."

The censor was not as busy on this one as there are only two blacked-out items.

This ad from the U.S. Army Recruiting Services features a story of the "Rangoon Rambler" over CBI. It speaks of the adventure of a bombing run over Rangoon, Burma. Also included is the story of the crew of the B-24 Liberator.

Click color photo of bomber, text of advertisement, and photo of crew below for larger images.

" K E E P ' E M F L Y I N G ! "

The makers of the B-24 Liberator and C-87 Liberator Express placed a two-page ad about their aircraft in LIFE.

In part one of the ad, shown at left, the subject is flying the 14,000 mile supply line between Ohio and India.

The complete ad is shown below...

Click on a section of the ad to view full screen (there are 4 sections).

Another advertisement for Champion Spark Plugs. This one features the Corps of Engineers and a bulldozer at work on an airfield.

Filmmaking was one of the few industries that continued almost uninterrupted during the war. In fact, the war gave movie-makers timely subject matter.

This ad for Motorola Radio features the 1945 Warner Bros. movie, "Objective Burma" starring Errol Flynn. No doubt based on some facts, the movie was fictional and glorified the American effort in Burma, while making almost no mention of larger British contributions.

Click to read more about 'Objective Burma' from IMDB

The movie summary:
A group of men parachute into Japanese-occupied Burma with a dangerous and important mission: to locate and blow up a radar station. They accomplish this well enough, but when they try to rendezvous at an old air-strip to be taken back to their base, they find Japanese waiting for them, and they must make a long, difficult walk back through enemy-occupied jungle.

Not only does this ad mention the radios produced for the war effort, but those waiting to be produced for consumers after the war. By 1945 the theme of most printed advertising had shifted from "Back the attack" to "After the war..."

Click image at left to view text of ad or click movie poster above for more about the movie.

This 1943 advertisement in LIFE by Coca-Cola says that "Coke" is a way to say "We are friends" to the Chinese. It shows American Flying Tigers and Chinese drinking Coca-Cola. The ground crewman at left seems to be indicating three "kills" for the pilot and his shot-up plane in the background.

It also explains the relatively new nickname "Coke" for "Coca-Cola" by saying: It's natural for popular names to acquire friendly abbreviations. That's why you hear Coca-Cola called "Coke".

Click on the image of the ad and take a closer look...

This advertisement in LIFE by Caterpillar features Little Peoria on the Ledo Road. Peoria was where Caterpillar bulldozers were built, Little Peoria in Burma is where they were serviced.

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