What Is Slusho?

Slusho.

What is it?

I get a lot of questions regarding the 'Slusho' connection with the Cloverfield/1-18-08 movie. As people discover clues about Cloverfield, the Slusho name comes up quite a lot. In fact, the Slusho site and name are one of the few confirmed entities for Cloverfield.

The basic answer to the Slusho question is that Slusho is a Slurpee-type drink that was briefly mentioned in an episode of 'Alias' a few years back.

The bigger question is what, if anything, does Slusho have to do with Cloverfield/1-18-08?

Slusho first appeared on the T-shirt of this guy (above) in the trailer. Since then, the shirt was made official by being distributed in connection with the movie at Comic-Con in late July. The movie and the site were officially confirmed by the JJ Abrams camp as being tied into the movie. A Slusho site was added later. It claims it is a Japanese based company that gets its secret ingredient from the bottom of the ocean.

"Slusho! – You Can’t Drink Just Six" is the official tagline for the product and there is as of yet no confirmation on what that really means. JJ Abrams likes to use numbers in his clues and this may be just another unsolved mystery.

As the Slusho story goes, Noriko Yoshida, called The Little Whale in school, dedicated her life to refreshment and was lost at sea while looking for the most satisfying ingredients. Her son, Ganu, turned her refreshment business over to his cousin and focused on ocean science.

While at sea Ganu and his crew discovered a new, deep-sea ingredient unlike anything else. That night he had a dream where he was a small fish and a whale visited him to tell him to use the ingredient. As Ganu ate the new ingredient he grew large and turned into a whale.

He woke up in tears knowing he had found the lost ingredient his mother had lost her life for. Ganu turned his attention back to the refreshment business. The special new ingredient was found in the depths of the ocean at cold temperatures and tremednous pressure which is why it has to be served in a near-frozen state.

Ganu rejoined his cousin with the new ingredient to make what we know as Slusho.

Alias - Want A Slusho?

JJ Abrams has a knack for using code names and fake products in his work. During the filming of 'Cloverfield' the movie saw movie names such as Cheese, Chocolate, and Slusho. Abrams uses fake names regularly during his shoots to detract onlookers and the press. During the filming of Mission Impossible III, the Virginia shoot was titled 'Heyday' for example.



The viral marketing of JJ Abrams took off during LOST when the candy bar Apollo was mentioned in the series as well as having websites dedicated toward it. Sites popped up for the airline, too, at Oceanic Air (here). Small teasers such as pictures, quotes, and clips were hidden within the Oceanic site for fans to discover.


Of course, the HANSO Foundation (here) was the biggest of Abrams viral sites. The HANSO site tied into the series as the driving force of the island and viewers could regularly check the site during the first few years of the show to see mysterious notes and videos there.

It is hard to say what role Slusho will play in the movie. Looking at the past Abrams projects we can expect Slusho to be at the least a great marketing ploy to sell some t-shirts. We could probably see the product mentioned in the film in the form of product placements.

However, I'd like to believe the main character, Rob, who is moving to Japan the night of the attack, will be somehow working or affiliated with the Slusho Company. Maybe we'll see some Slusho products being consumed and reference. Maybe we'll see that the monster is an ocean-bound creature whose life has been upset by the Slusho people.