From AV Club · · 1m 10s
Whalefall tagline redefines movie marketing
Whalefall's tagline 'The odds of being swallowed alive by a whale are not zero' challenges moviegoers to consider unlikely but possible futures.
In brief
Whalefall's tagline 'The odds of being swallowed alive by a whale are not zero' challenges moviegoers to consider unlikely but possible futures. Whalefall's tagline suggests improbable events could happen, making audiences question their own safety in the film's premise. Originally reported by AV Club.
Whalefall tagline
The odds of being swallowed alive by a whale are not zero.
“The odds of being swallowed alive by a whale are not zero”
Disney marketing team
Disney's digital marketing team created the tagline after seeing early trailer cuts.
Jason Eskin
Jason Eskin, Disney's senior vice president of digital marketing, says the tagline came from wondering if getting swallowed alive by a whale could happen.
Scientific accuracy
Tom Mustill, a whale documentarian, confirms sperm whales could swallow humans in rare cases.
Sperm whale biology
Sperm whales have a wide enough throat to swallow a person, though scuba gear makes it harder.
“a really nice slippery swimmer would be much easier”
Whale behavior
Sperm whales sometimes surface near California coast where Whalefall is set.
Giant squid connection
The film's giant squid makes accidental human ingestion more likely.
Probability implications
The tagline suggests improbable events could happen to moviegoers themselves.
The takeaway
Whalefall's tagline suggests improbable events could happen, making audiences question their own safety in the film's premise.
