Soviet Propaganda: "Where are my royalties?"

"Posters depicting a coupon-clipping capitalist in a top hat, often with a cigar, looking, in Kipling's words, most excruciatingly idle, adorned many a classroom wall in Soviet secondary schools as an illustration of the inequities of capitalism." - Kuznetsov, Capital Markets for Quantitative Professionals

In trying to find such a poster, I asked my mom who pointed me to a different source of propaganda:



"Yelberton Abraham Tittle, from the Piney Woods of East Texas, played pro football from 1948 until 1964, retiring at 38 after starring for the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants. Although he was the quarterback in the 49ers' so-called Million Dollar Backfield, he is best remembered for his three years in New York, when his passing took the team to three NFL championship games, none of which they won, and for his willingness to take the field when badly hurt."

Back in the USSR, the photo's caption condemned US professional sports by comparing the sportsmen to ancient gladiators -- sentenced to die just to amuse and entertain the crowd.

Ironically, my mom had a chance to meet Y.A. and even talk to him regarding this famous photo. He replied something along the lines of: "Oh crap, they had no idea how much $$ I made during that game. I didn’t know that picture was used as a part of Soviet propaganda. Where are my royalties?"