This civic artifact uses kairos as an integral part in getting its message across to the targeted audience. The poster asks those that view it to “Join a car sharing club today.” It also states that “When you ride alone you ride with Hitler.” At first glance this seems ridiculous, but its purpose was actually for citizens to conserve gas so that it could be used for the war.

This uses kairos by taking advantage of the almost nationwide hatred for Hitler, Germany, Nazis, and communism in general. In the rhetorical situation surrounding World War II, the vast majority of United States citizens were united around the fact that they all had a common enemy: Hitler.

This created the perfect opportunity for this car sharing propaganda because it provides something for everyone to rally around. This creates a task that the average person can do, yet still help the entire country fight such an immense threat. People jumped at the idea of doing something bigger than themselves. If this ad or an ad similar to this one had been proposed at a different time, it almost certainly would’ve been far less successful. Yet, this newfound hatred for Hitler provided the opportunity for the government to take advantage with kairos in order to get what they wanted from the American public.

This piece of propaganda had the sole intention of preserving gas to be used by the military in the war, but the kairos for this particular time frame was very strong, and could be used to persuade people very well. Wars provide a very strong kairos because the whole country is fighting for one goal, even if they aren’t physically fighting, they all try to do their own part.