Slusho! Store Sending Secret Clues?

Several members at Unfiction are reporting new clues added to their Slusho! orders. In addition to the usual Japanese newspaper clippings, recent orders have been shipping with a torn Tagruato memo.

I have pieced together a few of the photos that were submitted. If you receive anything in your order, please scan it in and sent it to me!

The front has the Tagruato logo at the top with Japanese writing. The large writing across the front says "TOP SECRET". Here is the complete translation:

You obtain, the batten

---

{TO:} Level 1 Temporary Provision Staff Member
{FROM:} Judgement Council
{SUBJECT: Trusting Those Out of Our Sight}
{DATE:}11/24/2007

---

Effective Immediately!

Over the next few days, because of the incident that took place, starting now all letters to the outside will first
pass through our communication center, or they will not go out. Level 1 Personnel? They will remain where they are,
making certain to read the message from start to finish. (How will they know it is authentic, this message that is
dispatched everywhere? When it is inscribed by the ?.)

In addition, working hard/employment rusted overtime? As for the employees, they will be made to wait in their
appointed lodging facility until told otherwise.

If one witnesses an act of misconduct, and neglects to report it to the Council, Chuai's department bureau will enforce
principles and regard it as a violation. There will be no exceptions.


As exciting as this is... there is more! On the back is a hand written note, which reads:

American, The Chuai station hides a dark secret. Good people are going missing. Expect further communication in the near future. - the Whistle Blower

The Chuai station is shown on Tagruato's deep sea drilling map. It is located in the Atlantic ocean, about 1000 miles off the coast of NY. The station was supposed to open in September, but it seems like there may have been some problems.

So, who is the Whistle Blower, and does this have anything to do with Teddy or "the cause"? I'll keep you posted!

UPDATE: Here is the Tagruato memo I personally received in my Slusho shipment!

* Thanks to KOZMO, MrTOASTY, JULIA, BACON ARMY, KOSMOPOL, and McPhearson for all their hard work translating this!

Slusho! Store Adds Hoodie

You need more warming!!

Just in time for winter, the official Slusho! Store has added a hooded sweatshirt to the lineup for $28. Hats and T-shirts are also available!

They are still running a sale; if you buy a hat you get $10 off any other item.

Cloverfield Monster on 30 Rock?

Nah, probably not ;)

You can watch the scene here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW9BEKUV824

Official Cloverfield Website

The official website for Cloverfield is CloverfieldMovie.com. Here is the site's description as provided by Yahoo:

Official site of the movie Cloverfield, the monster movie from producer J.J. Abrams and directed by Matt Reeves, in which the entire film is seen as the point of view from eye witnesses of the monstrous attacks on New York City.

Paramount has released an official plot synopsis, which according to ShockTillYouDrop.com reads:

Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

UPDATE: An "About The Film" link has been added, with the following description:

Tagruato Hacked Again!

Tagruato was hacked again. Same hack, different day. Maybe there is something we are missing...

I still have the mirror of the unhacked Tagruato site here: http://tagruato.cloverfieldclues.com/

UPDATE: The site was restored again.

1-18-08 Now Cloverfield At Apple.com

Apple has moved the Cloverfield trailer to a new address: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/cloverfield/

However, if you try to search on the Apple site, it will try to pull up the old 11808 page, which no longer works.

* Thanks to Dustin for emailing me about this!

Searching for Cloverfield News

Cloverfield popped into the "Top 10" searches on Yahoo over the holiday weekend. Now Yahoo has an article about the huge increase in Cloverfield searches.

Interestingly, one of the searches mentioned in the article is "Cloverfield Clues", which has jumped 112% this week.

I receive about 40% of my traffic from search engines, although only 4% of my visitors come from Yahoo! (35% from Google)

Cloverfield Monster Revealed?
Mysterious New Cloverfield Trailer Sparks Searches
By Erik Gunther
Tue, November 27, 2007, 3:23 pm PST

We're counting the days as January 18 draws closer. What's special about that ho-hum Friday in the middle of January? Well, that's the date the shrouded-in-secrecy "Cloverfield" is scheduled to land in theaters.

The trailer for the mysterious monster movie made its debut back in July and sparked huge buzz. Since then, the buzz has quieted a bit, but an ardent group of movie buffs are still scouring the Web for the scoop on the flick.

This week we witnessed a 371% increase in searches on "cloverfield monster revealed" after a new trailer offered a glimpse of the horror to come. Related queries on "cloverfield monster" and "cloverfield trailer" have also smashed through the Search box. Diabolical director J.J. Abrams, the mastermind of all this hype, has jumped 116% in searches over the past week.

The Web-based viral marketing component has been key in keeping the movie's buzz alive. Searches on "cloverfield clues" jumped 112% as sneaky sleuths attempted to unravel a few of the film's mysteries. One question as of late—does the movie's classified colossus have anything to do with the legendary Cthulhu? Searches on the horrific creation of author H.P. Lovecraft

We can't tell if Cthulhu is involved in the Cloverfield saga, but the latest cinematic clue to make a splash in Search is "slusho." Stir that latest tidbit with past buzzworthy bits such as "cloverfield myspace," "ethan haas," and "1-18-08" and you'll find yourself knee deep in the film's mysterious mythology.

* Thanks to Cameron at one-eighteen-oh-eight for the article

Bold Futura News

Two new Bold Futura articles are available on Tagruato's "Investor News" page:

TAGRUATO LAUNCHES FIRST SATELLITE

Through its Bold Futura subsidiary, Tagruato successfully launched its first geostationary satellite “Hatsui” yesterday afternoon. At first, the launch was thought to be rescheduled because of poor weather conditions. Yesterday morning brought heavy rain and lightning strikes near the launch pad. Despite this adversity, however, the abort command was overruled by CEO Ganu Yoshida. After a five minute delay, the launch went off without any disasters.

Mission Chief Kenji Matsui claimed, “At first we thought the lightning might strike the satellite. It could cause a fire to catch within the electrical systems. It would have been seven years of hard work and sleepless night wasted.”

When asked why he overruled the abort command, Yoshida said, “Because here at Tagruato, we don’t let lightning stand in the way of achieving our goals. In this case that goal was reaching for the stars.”

Yoshida could not be more specific as to what “reaching for the stars” entails, but assured us, “It will be big.”

Bold Futura recently announced that one billion Yen will be allocated towards space research. “The future of man depends on our ability to spread outwards into the universe. At Tagruato, we want to be the first to take you there,” Yoshida added.”

BOLD FUTURA HIRES “DREAM TEAM”

In a move surely to shake up the world of physics, Bold Futura has recruited one hundred of the top physics majors graduating from universities around the world. Most highly sought after was Johan Hedberg from Sweden. His internationally-acclaimed thesis on the intricate ecosystems of deep sea crevices landed him immediate tenure at his university but he turned it down for the opportunity to work for Bold Futura. “They offered me free reign to do whatever I want as long as the board approves and oversees it, “said Hedberg at Futura’s November press conference, “Plus I’ll have comfort and security for a long, long time.”

It is unclear what Futura’s expectations are for these young minds. The company is cheerfully vague regarding their intentions for the new all-star quantum squad.

“With those young, fresh minds working together, anything is possible. I’ve watched these new graduates - they have ideas on everything from creating new energy sources to starting us down the road to teleportation,” said Tokyo-based Professor Akira Okinawa. “As a citizen to Japan and the human race, I cannot think of a better place for their ideas to flourish. Bold Futura is cutting edge and innovative. It has a plan for us all.”

Ganu Yoshida is the CEO of Bold Futura’s parent company, Tagruato. When asked about this “quantum coup”, he answered, “Now that we have all the best minds, we won’t need to worry about competition. This is what the industry needs right now: a company focused not on what its competitors are doing, but instead what it can do to make the world a better place.”

American Mike Siegel graduated last May in a cap and gown. Now he’ll be on the other side of the world in a labcoat. He won’t miss home though. “They offered me a chance to make history and to work with the best in my field. How could I turn that down?”

In other news, BoldFutura.jp and BoldFutura.org are still fake.

* Thanks to Katherine for emailing about this. Go Tigers!

Slusho! Smilers Strike Again

There is a new article in the Tagruato Headlines page:

Smilers at the Animal Control Center!

Tagruato’s troupe of Slusho! Smilers! struck again last Friday, this time at a remote animal control center in Takayama. Bearing armfuls of Slusho! happy drinks for all the lower wage workers, the girls also organized a Slusho! drinking contest for two dozen of the center’s caged puppies and kittens.

“Kittens love Slusho! It reminds them of mother’s milk!” grinned Smiler! Mayu.

The workers whooped and cheered as the animals swam and drank their way through a 40-liter trough of Blueberry Zoom. After twenty minutes, Pickle, a spotted Labrador pup, was still happily lapping Slusho! “This one will come home to Ganu!” said acrobatic Smiler! Yuuka as she clutched the lucky puppy, “He just couldn’t get enough Zoom!” With the center in Takayama, the girls completed their nationwide tour of Japan’s animal shelters. While all the shelters received a generous donation from the Tagruato Cares! foundation, the centers with the most Slusho!-friendly animals were purchased and welcomed into the Tagruato family. These centers will undergo a full renovation in the next three years, making way for modern facilities with up-to-date research, technology, and rehabilitation equipment.

“Tagruato is working so hard to ensure a prosperous future for humans,” said company spokeswoman Suzume Soga. “We want that future for small animals as well.”

* Thanks to Eddy at 11808.blogspot.com for emailing me about this first.

Slusho! Appears On Heroes Again

Slusho! made a return appearance on Heroes in tonight's episode "Truth And Consequences". Once again, Elle (played by Kristin Bell) can be seen drinking Slusho! in her car. However this time, you can clearly see the Slusho! logo on the cup.

In case you missed it, Slusho! also appeared in the previous Heroes episode "Cautionary Tales".

UPDATE: You can now watch this scene on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7LQkc34VMw

*Special thanks to Thierry for providing the screenshots and YouTube video!

Tagruato Website Restored

The Tagruato website was fully restored, and it appears that it is identical to what it was before it was hacked.

I'm sure whoever hacked the website will be back, sooner than later.

*Thanks to Michael for emailing me about this first!

Tagruato Website Unhacked

Tagruato removed the "evil ganu" photo, and replace it with this message - 只今改装中 - which roughly translates to "Currently Under Construction"!

Tagruato Voicemail Message Update

Tagruato's voice mail message changed recently:

Thank you for calling Tagruato. Due to high call volumes, your call has been transferred to an automated answering service. If you have questions concerning our ParafFun recall, please leave a message, and one of our associates will find and support you as soon as possible.

ParafFun Wax Distributors are a subsidiary of Tagruato. This is from the ParafFun page on Tagruato's website*:

One of the many byproducts of our Petroleum reservoir is paraffin wax, an alkane with dozens of handy uses in your day to day life! Edible, malleable, colorable, and a fine electrical insulator. ParafFun! Wax Distributors meets all your wax needs.

Why would Tagruato be recalling ParafFun? Does this have anything to do with the hack on Tagruatro's website?

BTW, it's not clear how long the new message has been available, but it was found yesterday by nauttebayo at UnFiction.

Using Skype, I called the number and recorded the new message:

• Download Entire Message
• Download English Only Message
  

You can find the original Tagruato voice mail message here, which basically said there were no updates at that time.

* The Tagruato website has been hacked and is currently down, but I have a mirror of the old site here.

Tagruato Website Hacked!

The Tagruato website has been hacked. The title was changed to "TAGRUATO IS DESTROYING OUR OCEANS", and the regular picture of Ganu Yoshida has been graffiti-ed - adding devil horns to Ganu, a tidal wave destroying a city, and various sea life.

Interestingly, the wave and sea animals all have roman numerals hidden on them, and the sea animals have hidden words indicating type of animal it is:

1. Tanner Crab
2. Irukandji Jellyfish
3. Dumbo Octopus
4. Ogre fish
5. The Wave, which is similar to Hokusai's "Great Wave Off Kanagawa" (神奈川沖浪裏)
   

I'm not sure what any of this means, but could this be the work of Teddy and his "cause"?

This reminds me of "The Lost Experience", when Rachel Blake hacked the Hanso Foundation website.

BTW, If you want to look anything up on the old Tagruato website, I have created a mirror of the old Tagruato site here: Tagruato.CloverfieldClues.com

* Thanks to everyone for emailing me about this, and thanks to Justin for poining out the fish names

Tagruato Update - RRC Article

Tagruato.jp website was updated today. A new "Investor News" item was added:

To Investors: Concerning the RRC Article
Tagruato is aware that many of you are shocked and angered over the recent article by the Ravaille Research Center. The Slusho! Board of Directors would like to assure you that the article's claims are completely false and that there is no Seabed's Nectar available outside their contained factories. The author of the article, Dr. Abe, is known for his suspicious research methods. In 1994 he was brought before his university's academic board in regards to his genetic manipulation of Australian Aphynos. We have dealt with similar predators before. The article has been stripped from all subsequent issues and our legal department is currently looking into further retaliation methods. Please contact a Tagruato representative for more information on this matter.

A search of "Aphynos" is fruitless, but a search for "Ravaille Research Center" leads to a post on the original Science Forums by 5Pancakes:


Ravaille Research Center?

Hi! I’m new to the boards. You all seem very well read so I hope someone nows what I’m talking about.

I'm attaching a article I found about the Slusho! drinks and the weird affect it's having on people. I'm worried because my 2 boys drink it everyday.

Does anyone have info on the Ravaille Research Center? Are they legitimate? Does anyone have any other research on Slusho! drinks?



Attached to the post, was the "nectar" document above. The document addresses health concerns about Slusho's secret ingredient:

1265.08.41 482
Vol. 131. 476-491

Nectar (cont’d)
steady stream of print and media advertising, nutritional information [concerning]
Slusho! drink remains limited, leaving some suspicious consumers with a sour [taste]
in their mouths.

Last month, [inadvertently] coinciding with public pressure from the FDA [regarding]
plans to finally import Slusho! to the United States, my department at the [Ravaille]
Research Center realised its own preliminary study on Slusho!'s mystery [ingredient].
Despite slight food coloring changes to affect color and, in the case of [Chocolate]
Rage, texture, our tests uncovered some surprisingly recognizable culprits.

Unfortunately, due to Slusho!'s peculiar response ro traditional testing [methods]
none of these ingredients could be definitively verified. We postulate the [possible]
presence of the following: Carbonated water, glucose, sodium citrate, vitamin [C,]
D-pantothenol, citric acid, oleoresin, gelatine, sucrose, acetate isobutyrate, [phos-]
phoric acid, carob bean gum, and potassium benzoate. True to their reputation, [rep-
resentatives from Tagruato ignored our attempts at correspondence regarding [our]
findings, despite repeat phone calls, emails, and an ill-fated office visit.

None of these ingredients, on their own, send up any health-related warning [flags.]
Most are prevelant in any number of other [publicly] available beverages. [Except, of]
course, for the glaring blue whale in the room: Seabed‘s Nectar ("kaitei no mitsu"),
Slusho!'s self-proclaimed "special ingredient" and centerpiece of their prolific [adver-]
tising campaign has somehow evaded classification in any kind of [international di-]
etary database. Unfortunately for the inquiring consumer, there’s no law that [requires]
corporations to give all of the secrets of their recipes. Formulas for some of Slusho!'s
competitors have remained hidden for over a century.

Tagruato hides behind these legalities when faced with questions regarding [their]
acquisition methods and the chemical makeup of Seabed's Nectar, claiming the [threat]
of rival companies has forced their silence. Tagruato’s successful evasion of both [gov-]
ernment and private research, however, may be costing a higher price for [consumers]
that they realize. Assuming, despite public disagreement on the subject, that [Seabed’s]
Nectar does have the restorative powers that Tagruato claims in their campaigns. [Or-]
ganized research into the ingredient could lead to growth in preventative and [homeo-]
pathic medicine. Their choice to hide what could be a great benefit to the [collective]
knowledge of mankind seems both unethical and disgustingly profit-oriented.

Concerned about the wealth of information lost by Tagruato‘s negligent [attitude,]
my department managed to obtain a small sample of Seabed’s Nectar. Our [conclu-]
sions are spotty at best, based on diluted specimens and poor investigative [condi-]
tions. Our findings are too consistent, however, to be discounted completely. [The]
short term exposure to the substance, some initial tests revealed accelerated [cell]
growth, increased strength, increased soft muscle tissue growth, sharper [eyesight],
better digestion. smoother skin, and a full-body, pleasant sensation that one [of our]
researchers actually described as "a wave of pure happiness". The rest of this [report]
will attempt to summarize our findings based on preliminary tests with [Seabed’s]
Nectar and, hopefully, lay die foundation for more extensive research. We [aligned]
Our testing regimen with a current case study: the notorious documentary footage
depicting an 84-year-old woman drinking twelve large Slusho! Beverages and [lifted]


* Thanks to Jawbone at Unfiction for finding this, and to Eddy at 11808.blogspot.com for emailing me about this!
** Unfortunately, the Science Forums people have already altered the post :(

Slusho! and Heroes

Greg Beeman, Director/Producer of the NBC television show "Heroes", has some AWESOME photos (and comments) of the Heroes cast drinking Slusho!

Greg Grunberg who plays Matt Parkman on Heroes, is good friends with JJ Abrams and has been in many of his projects, including Felicity, Lost, and will play a minor role in Cloverfield.

UPDATE: It looks like Slusho! actually made an appearance in last nights show!!

Watch the scene here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4gkyKkARZs



UPDATE 2: Maybe a Hero will appear in Cloverfield to fight the Monster ;)


* Thanks to CameronJR9 at one-eighteen-oh-eight.blogspot.com for finding Beeman's blog, and to adriansd1986 at Unfiction!

Cloverfield Ads Appearing Online

The guys at 1-18-08.blogspot.com noticed that Paramount has started running ads for Cloverfield on Yahoo Sports.

Let me know if you see any Cloverfield advertising anywhere else, especially on TV or in magazines, and I'll post them here.

Cloverfield Trailer 2 Screenshots

I have selected 88 screenshots out of the 3300+ frames of the new Cloverfield Trailer. You can view them all in my Picasa album.

Screenshots from the original teaser trailer can be found here.

Here are some of the most interesting photos:

Hawk's Slusho! T-shirt makes another appearance. You can also see "$11 dollar guy", and the "Rob's Awesome" girl.



The Statue of Liberty's head has changed quite a bit from the Teaser

Fighter jets dropping bombs on the city. In the screenshot before this one, you can see the those fighter planes.



This soldier has his face blurred in the video. However, the name on his uniform - Pryce - has not. Who edited the video?

It looks like someone is about to explode. Willy Wonka told you not to eat the Three-Course Dinner Chewing Gum



It's alive, It's huge! We finally get a tiny glimpse of the HUGE monster. Is that a turtle shell? FYI: Tagruato is an anagram for A TORTUGA, Spanish for turtle.


Marlena is wearing a Seahorse necklace. Is there any significance? FYI: It's a donkey on the Slusho! website



An empty horse-drawn carriage strolls by. Where has everyone else gone?



Here is the front view of the decapitated Statue of Liberty. Unlike the poster, it is still night in this photo.

Cloverfield Trailer 2 Audio Analysis

I have separated the surround sound audio channels from the new HD Cloverfield trailer, and saved them as individual files:

Center
Left
Right
Left Surround
Right Surround
Low Frequnecy Effects (Bass)

All the tracks are 2.1MB MP3 files.

You can also download the complete set here: http://rapidshare.com/files/70863735/Trailer2AudioMP3.rar.html

Here is the current transcript, which I will updated as the files are analyzed:

Multiple Sightings Of Case Designate "Cloverfield"
Camera Retrieved at Incident Site U.S.447
Area Formerly Known As "Central Park"

[Party scene]
Surprise!

Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh My God!

[Rob looking into the camera]
Rob: My name is Robert Hawkins. Approximately seven hours ago, um, some thing attacked the city, um, if you found this, if you're watching this, then you know more about it than I do.

[rob on phone]
Rob: Hello? Beth? Beth, where are you?

Marlena: OK, we can not go into the middle of the city. We've got to get out of here!

Soldier: There’s nothing you can do for her now

Marlena: Do you know what that thing is?
Soldier: What ever it is, it's winning.

Unknown: Do you have any idea what's out there?
Rob: I don't care what's out there. listen to me, she's dying.

Unknown: Turn that camera [off]

[monster roar]
Hawk?: Rob, Rob, Rob, I saw it!
Hawk?: Rob, Rob, It's alive!

Rob: Come on! Run, go go go!
[Cameraman lying on the ground]
Rob: Hud! Hud!

[Buzzing sound]
Marlena: What was that?

Rob: Run Run Run away!

Rob?: Still filming?
Hud?: Yeah, people are gonna want to know, you know, how it all went down

Paramount Pictures Presents
A Bad Robot production
"Cloverfield"
Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman,
Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller
Executive Producers Guy Riedel, Sherryl Clark
Produced By J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk
Written By Drew Goddard
Directed By Matt Reeves

Apple.com has new trailer in HD!

Apple finally has the new trailer up in HD! Woo-Hoo!!

HD Screen shots, audio analysis, transcripts, etc coming soon!!!

Full Cloverfield Trailer Was Exclusively at Empire

Empire Magazine, the top British film magazine, exclusively had the "full" Cloverfield trailer. It was MUCH better quality than what was on YouTube, just not HD.

You can check it out at EmpireOnline.com

Also check out their analysis of the trailer.

</exclusive>

Cloverfield Movie Poster

Here is the "official" full picture of the new Cloverfield poster.

The posters have already started appearing in movies theaters, and now they are showing up on eBay!

These are authentic double-sided movie theater posters, unlike the promotional posters from Comic-Con, which were only one-sided.

FYI, the back side is printed in reverse, to the poster can be used in a back-lit frame.






UPDATE: Markus from Germany has sent in pictures of a Cloverfield "standee" in Munich.

More Cloverfield Promotional Photos - BeyondHollywood

BeyondHollywood.com has some new promotional photos.

*Thanks to limedelsol for finding these.

Cloverfield Promotional Photos - BlackBook

BlackBookMag.com ninja-edited their story from this morning with additional promotional photos.

BTW, I think this picture clears up what the mysterious figures behind the "white sheet" in the trailer are.