Did you know a cartoon caused government furor in Britain during World War II?

Well-intentioned words can often be misunderstood and can cause hurt feelings. In 1942, when vital supplies to Britain were under the constant threat of U-boat attacks, a well-intentioned cartoon caused more than just hurt feelings – an outrage in the highest circles of British government.
 
Political cartoonist Philip Zec drew cartoons for the British Daily Mirror during the war. He was a stalwart anti-fascist, and the first British cartoonist to represent the Nazis as sinister snakes and vultures rather than ridiculous but ultimately harmless buffoons.

On March 6, 1942, the newspaper published one of his works, depicting a British sailor from the Merchant Marine desperately clinging on to a piece of wreckage, assumably after his ship was sunk by the Germans. The caption said “The price of petrol has been increased by one penny – Official”

The piece was part of a series attacking war profiteers, and was intended to represent the dear price merchant mariners had to pay to get vital oil shipments to Britain, some of which then ended up being used frivolously. The original caption said “Petrol Is Dearer Now,” but was changed at the suggestion of a coworker who thought the original lacked punch.
 
The cartoon was not taken in the spirit it was intended. Many members of the government, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Supply Herbert Morrison, believed the message was that gasoline companies were deliberately profiting off British lives.

Morrison said the cartoon “was worthy of Goebbels at his best,” and "only a very unpatriotic editor could pass it for publication". Churchill had MI5, the country’s domestic counter-intelligence agency, investigate Zec for any Nazi connections, and a separate investigation was launched to determine whether the newspaper should be shut down. The matter was debated in Parliament, but Zec and the Daily Mirror were lucky enough to get away with a severe reprimand over the well-intentioned but badly misunderstood picture.