World War II propaganda

Younen Sugoroku board featuring WWII propaganda

During World War II, several companies intended to sway the public's opinion in their country's favor by using several unique techniques. In October of 1943, Nintendo released a Backgammon board intended for kids that featured several images that promoted Japan's involvement in the war. All of the images were of different types of animals dressed up as soldiers. Perhaps the most interesting image is of a bunny rabbit and a turtle waving the Japanese flag on a gun with torn up American and British flags laying down at the bottom of the hill they're standing on.

Years after the war ended, Nintendo got involved with several companies who during the war heavily supported the Allies. Some of these companies include the Walt Disney Company (Nintendo manufactured several products with Disney characters and properties on them, thus tripling their annual sales and allowing them to become a part of the Kyoto and Osaka Stock Exchange), Warner Brothers (Nintendo produced a few items with Bugs Bunny), and King Features Syndicate (Nintendo was allowed to create products with Popeye, including a couple of video games).

See also

• Yônen Sugoroku - The Backgammon board mentioned above.