đ Der Schuss mit dem echten Bleichmacher â Early 1970s â Original vintage A2 anti-drug PSA Poster [DAK, West Germany]
West German anti-drug PSA in psychedelic Pop typography | 59.5 Ă 42 cm | West Germany
đŹ Introduction
A jetâblack field spotlights a chilling still life: a skeletal hand, tipped with a glamâmagenta cocktail ring, holding a glass syringe of amber fluid. Above it, âSchussâ swells in bulbous, acidâpink letteringâa double entendre that reads as both âshotâ and âinjectionââwith the stingingly dry subline âmit dem echten Bleichmacher,â a mordant euphemism for death. Issued by DAK (Deutsche AngestelltenâKrankenkasse), the composition fuses lateâ60s/earlyâ70s visual languageâpsychedelic type, studioâlit photographic realism, and clinical objecthoodâto deliver a moralizing memento mori aimed squarely at youth culture.
The fashionable ring on bone is the posterâs coup: glamour meeting mortality, status stripped to anatomy. Itâs a graphic grammar shared with Popâinflected photography and European social advertising of the era, where shock and polish work in tandem to fix a publicâhealth warning in memory.
âš Why It Matters
This sheet exemplifies West Germanyâs earlyâ1970s turn to countercultural aesthetics in official messaging: social insurers borrowed the look of pop posters and record sleeves to reach atârisk audiences without preaching. Its punchy wordplay, fluorescent palette, and photographic icon drive crossover interest among collectors of psychedelic graphics, publicâservice design, drugâpolicy ephemera, and postââ68 visual culture. As a campaign piece distributed for display, it was inherently ephemeralâA2 publicârelations posters from DAK survive in far smaller numbers than commercial film or music posters. The imprint confirming DAK authorship bolsters its documentary value, situating the work within an institutional push toward more visually sophisticated health communication.
đ Poster Details
- Year: Early 1970s (c. 1970â72)
- Country: West Germany
- Size: 59.5 Ă 42.0 cm
- Format: DIN A2
- Studio / Publisher: DAK â Deutsche AngestelltenâKrankenkasse, Public Relations
đ Condition
Good vintage condition with strong presentation; colors read saturated and blacks deep, and the sheet frames beautifully. Ships safely rolled in a sturdy tube.