History Main / SpaceWhaleAesop

* In ''Shadow Snark'':

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'':
** Mr. Heffley gives two of these to Greg:
*** Always remember your responsibilities, because if you had been a pioneer boy and forgotten to tighten the wheels of the cart, they'd have fallen off and your parents and brothers would have been eaten by wolves, but somehow you'd have survived and had to bury them.
*** Learn how to open the packets for microwave burritos or else you might starve due to being stranded on a desert island with adequate water, but no food save for a million microwave burritos.
** Greg's dad used a "scare tale" variant, warning Greg: "If you get out of bed again tonight, you'll probably run into Creator/ShelSilverstein in the hallway." ItMakesSenseInContext, since that happened after a very young Greg had seen [[https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/enhanced/webdr01/2013/7/29/12/enhanced-buzz-orig-27163-1375114225-60.jpg a very threatening photo of Silverstein]] on the back cover of ''Literature/TheGivingTree''.

** From the first movie:

*** Don't [[PlayingSick play sick]] to get out of getting up, or else you'd be glued to your mattress all day, have to take tarry medicine that moves on its own, and be fed thin gruel with potato peelings in.

** From the second movie:

** Don't stay up all night messing with your families' dreams, or you'll be too tired to spend the day with them.

[[caption-width-right:236:Lesson learned. Kill all the chickens first.]]

'''Xander''': ''[beat]'' Good. ''[cut to credits']'' I'm glad we had this talk.

* A possible take away from Edmund's story in ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' is, "If you betray your family to the bad guys, you won't get any presents from Santa".

-->-- ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', "Reptile Boy"

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "Lion's Den", the Lewisborough High School wrestling team take a performance enhancing drug which transforms them into CatFolk who devour people.

* [[SpoofAesop Parodied]] in an episode of ''Anime/CowboyBebop''. [[spoiler:"Clean out your fridge or its contents will become a BlobMonster and [[ItCameFromTheFridge start attacking people]]."]]

* In Myth/ArthurianLegend, the origin of Merlin involves his mother (a nun) being raped by an [[HornyDevils Incubus]] at night… because she had an argument with her sister and neglected to say her nightly prayers that night. So don't forget to say your prayers, and don't argue with your siblings, or you'll be raped by [[HornyDevils demons]]. This may be a case of beliefs changing over time; the moral would make sense for people who believed that demons are real and saying prayers really will protect you from them, which people likely did back when the legend was born.

* Final lyrics of Music/{{Ghoultown}}'s ''Drink With the Living Dead'' point out that the only moral lesson to take from this song - don't kill a man to steal his drink or God will curse you to walk the world as RevenantZombie until someone beats you at a drinking contest - but the thing it warns you from doing isn't very common either.

** [[Film/Godzilla1954 The original film]] and its fellow [[{{Kaiju}} giant monster movies]] can be perceived this way: [[ILoveNuclearPower The use and/or testing of nuclear weapons invariably mutates ordinary creatures]] [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever into horrendous monsters that are almost as destructive as, well, a nuclear weapon]]. (But against ''your'' side!) Of course, the Japanese audience of ''Godzilla'' didn't need to be persuaded against atomic bombs, so that particular movie is as much an ''allegory'' of the known effects as it is a warning; the American imitations are thus closer to this trope.

** When the tech support for your cable company keeps you on hold for a long time, you begin to feel trapped and have a desire to free. So you decide to go hang gliding. But in the process, you crash into some power lines and cause a power wide blackout in your city, causing crime to spike and cumulating with your dad getting punched over a can of soup.

* The film version of ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'' is interpreted this way at its end by the protagonist, Dr. Heywood Floyd. The events at Jupiter surrounding the Monolith and HAL, leading to Jupiter igniting into a second Sun for the solar system, have resulted in the United States and the Soviet Union standing down from impending nuclear war. As a result, he sees whatever intelligence that sent the Monolith as an overseer for life in the solar system. Both on Earth, and seemingly now on Europa. The message that heralded's Jupiter's ignition expressly states that humanity can have the other moons of Jupiter, but Europa is off-limits.

* Caprisun's "Respect the pouch" ads. Throw away your punch pouches with reverence or else you'll be the victim of a nightmarish BalefulPolymorph!

* ''Franchise/TeenTitans'':
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' had a few, usually attached to {{Bizarro Episode}}s.
*** For example, [[Recap/TeenTitansS3E4Crash "Crash"]] had a DigitalPiracyIsEvil Aesop delivered by way of Beast Boy downloading a new video game and trying to play it on Cyborg's system recharger, which in turn infects Cyborg, giving him [[MeatOVision food-based hallucinations]] and then nearly destroys the city. (Admittedly there is a risk of getting a virus from downloading software from a shady site, but presumably just having a computer blue-screen isn't as entertaining.)
*** [[Recap/TeenTitansS4E5EmployeeOfTheMonth "Employee of the Month"]] is either an anti-meat Aesop or an anti-[[spoiler:''Tofu'']] Aesop, depending on how one interprets the text. Namely, [[spoiler:Beast Boy takes a job at a disgusting restaurant that specializes in gelled meat--except the "meat" is sentient Space Tofu seeking to steal cows for fuel and destroy the earth because "It is our way."]]
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', being a StatusQuoIsGod "wacky" show where anything can happen because it'll all be reset next episode anyway, has "don't try to make your friend who was pretending to be a ghost think he actually ''is'' a ghost to teach him a lesson, or he'll decide that since he's dead he can't get hurt any more and run off to jump in a volcano for fun, and while you're trying to stop him random lasers from outer space will kill half your party (the others will also die, but from more reasonable causes)".
*** In "Smile Bones" we get the lesson to chew your food, or else your bellies will become sentient and eat everything in sight.
*** "Pyramid Scheme": Never use the pyramid scheme, or else mummies will capture you for slavery.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' had a few, usually attached to {{Bizarro Episode}}s.
** For example, [[Recap/TeenTitansS3E4Crash "Crash"]] had a DigitalPiracyIsEvil Aesop delivered by way of Beast Boy downloading a new video game and trying to play it on Cyborg's system recharger, which in turn infects Cyborg, giving him [[MeatOVision food-based hallucinations]] and then nearly destroys the city. (Admittedly there is a risk of getting a virus from downloading software from a shady site, but presumably just having a computer blue-screen isn't as entertaining.)
** [[Recap/TeenTitansS4E5EmployeeOfTheMonth "Employee of the Month"]] is either an anti-meat Aesop or an anti-[[spoiler:''Tofu'']] Aesop, depending on how one interprets the text. Namely, [[spoiler:Beast Boy takes a job at a disgusting restaurant that specializes in gelled meat--except the "meat" is sentient Space Tofu seeking to steal cows for fuel and destroy the earth because "It is our way."]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', being a StatusQuoIsGod "wacky" show where anything can happen because it'll all be reset next episode anyway, has "don't try to make your friend who was pretending to be a ghost think he actually ''is'' a ghost to teach him a lesson, or he'll decide that since he's dead he can't get hurt any more and run off to jump in a volcano for fun, and while you're trying to stop him random lasers from outer space will kill half your party (the others will also die, but from more reasonable causes)".
** In "Smile Bones" we get the lesson to chew your food, or else your bellies will become sentient and eat everything in sight.
** "Pyramid Scheme": Never use the pyramid scheme, or else mummies will capture you for slavery.

[[caption-width-right:236:Lesson learned. Kill al the chickens first.]]

The author has an important [[AnAesop Aesop]] for the audience. There's an urgent course of action they want you to take, and they've decided to show you the tragic consequences of ''not'' doing so.

Trouble is, the real consequences, while they may be serious, aren't the sort that can easily be made to fit the RuleOfPerception. Maybe they take decades to show up, if they show up at all. Maybe they happen so subtly that it's hard to show ''why'' the action should be taken.

Worse, maybe there isn't yet agreement on what the real consequences are. How can we be ''sure'' what will happen to the Earth [[Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome if we drive all the humpback whales extinct]]?

So the author dreams up some improbable, highly unforeseeable consequence to scare you into complying.

When done right, the improbable consequence will be a close analogy or a sharp metaphor to the probable one — just increased in scale, speed or concreteness. You know irreparable damage will be done to the Earth's ecosystem if the whales go extinct, but not ''what'' irreparable damage; and so, you arrange it so that the absence of whales leads to aliens endangering all life on Earth — ''especially'' the humans.

When done wrong, it'll defy all logic. Often, how well it comes off depends on how close you're looking and (if the consequences are still unknown) what you believe.

This trope should not be confused with FantasticAesop. The Fantastic Aesop promotes or discourages a course of action which can't even be ''attempted'' in the real world (e.g. "Never use black magic to resurrect your dog") by showing a reasonably plausible set of consequences ("Poor beloved Tropey CameBackWrong"). The Space Whale Aesop promotes or discourages a course of action which ''can'' be attempted in RealLife ("don't perform nuclear tests") by showing ''consequences'' that strain credibility ("radiation from the tests will awaken [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} a giant monster]] that destroys Tokyo") instead of a more realistic but not quite as dramatic example ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmvbjcmyKGo "it can burn whole buildings if someone is careless"]]).

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRz-dkW0C0 Buy Duracell]], or you'll trip down a hill in the woods, become entangled in a tent that gets set on fire, and roll into a mud puddle.

* Anvilicious "revenge is wrong" moral in ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' reaches this territory by the end of Pain invasion arc, when Naruto confronts [[spoiler: Nagato]] after the battle. His crimes so far include [[spoiler: killing Jiraiya and Kakashi as well as many Konoha ninjas, almost killing Hinata and turning entire Konoha into rubble]]. Naruto himself admits that he would love to kill him but refuses to. After some pep talk [[spoiler: Nagato performs a HeelFaceTurn and uses SacrificialRevivalSpell to bring all dead people in the village back to life]]. Lesson ends up being:[[spoiler: "If you refuse to kill the bad guy all his crimes will be cancelled, and bad guy will die anyway "]].

* ''Manga/TriGun'': Don't practise slavery, otherwise [[spoiler: a {{Human Alien|s}} [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Ubermensch]] will slaughter half of your species with his giant knife arms]].

* ''The Wrath Of Topaz'': If you prank somebody and it ends with ''them'' being punished for [[spoiler: [[AccidentalMurder someone else's death]]]], your victim will come after you in twelve years, steal your stuff, destroy your weapons, and then [[spoiler: ''murder you'']].

* The made-for-television holiday film "The Night They Saved Christmas" is not terrible, but it's based on this kind of Aesop: Don't drill in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge because you might harm Santa's workshop. And then [[spoiler: it goes ahead and breaks its own Space Whale Aesop]]!
* Passed over rather quickly in ''Film/PacificRim'': Geizler mentions that the {{Kaiju}}'s [[spoiler:creators']] initial attempt to take over the planet failed owing to a lack of compatibility with the atmosphere, but now that humans have sufficiently polluted our planet, it's ripe for a batshit insane monster takeover. Go figure. It also introduces some FridgeLogic: [[spoiler: Why couldn't the {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, who have been waiting 65 million years for the atmosphere to randomly change just right, perform a feat of geo-engineering that humans managed in about a century by accident]].

* Invoked in-universe in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}''. [[spoiler: Adrian's message to earth: stop fighting or ''Dr. Manhattan will come back from space and make you DIE.'']]

* ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: The Planet Plague'' teaches that obsessing over {{Revenge}} for your DoomedHometown is not Jedi-like, and if you have TheVirus it can speed your [[spoiler: [[BodyHorror transformation]] into a BlobMonster]]--when you're fighting, it's better to focus on what you're fighting ''for'' and ThePowerOfLove.

* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'': Evidently the moral of the story of ''Literature/GoEatWorms'' goes beyond "Treat others the way you'd want to be treated" and up to 11 with "Don't mistreat insects or [[spoiler: a giant version of one will come to your house and kill you"]].

* Creator/JRRTolkien has a similar story to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. The curse thing is somewhat more justified in this story because the "bird" in question was a transformed woman. Also, it's not the mariner who gets cursed but [[spoiler: the guy who tried to kill the mariner's wife, while her twin sons were watching, over a really pretty jewel]]. The Aesop ends up being "don't let greed stop you from being compassionate, or you'll be cursed to be homeless forever". Which downplays the Space Whale Aesop, in that if you are nice to people they are more likely to help you when you're in trouble. Tolkien undermined the Aesop slightly by making the characters who did this wicked deed rather too sympathetic.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E742 "42"]]: If you [[spoiler: accidentally use sentient creatures while mining for fuel]] you will be [[spoiler: possessed by their angry kin so they can stalk your friends and family like a serial killer before falling into the sun]]. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, the Doctor will yell at you.]] Bonus for implying [[spoiler: things like the BP oil crisis or rainforest devastation aren't caused by big corporations killing things slowly, but by the equivalent of seven guys in a beat-up truck who didn't know anything was there to begin with]].

* The ''Series/OneStepBeyond'' episode "Forests of the Night" taught us that [[spoiler: dabbling in the occult will cause you to turn into a leopard]]. The ''Twilight Zone'' episode "Jess Belle" is similar.

* A bizarre {{inverted|Trope}} example from ''Series/SummerHeightsHigh'': drama-teacher Mr G. performs an energetic dance for his students, dressed in what looks like a giant white pillowcase. He asks his class what the dance represented. The correct answer was: [[spoiler: peer pressure]].

* ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'': [[spoiler:Hey, don't overpopulate or pollute the planet or else a magma monster representing the will of the planet will mutate all of the planet's animals to kill all of us]]! Ultimately averted though. [[spoiler: Turns out the Gohma were created by Chakravartin, the creator God of the universe, to train the deities, and specifically Asura, to become the new God of Gaia. Pollution had nothing to do with it.]]

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'': Accept what happened in the past and move on, otherwise [[spoiler: your hometown and everyone you know in it will die to a {{Clock Roach|es}} tornado created by the universe meant to kill the person you keep trying to save with time travel]].

** The Genocide route is still incredibly horrific and effectively deconstructs the concept of grinding in [=RPGs=] and [[spoiler: killing characters you otherwise love in subsequent playthroughs just to see what happens]], but the very last scene turns the message of the playthrough into 'don't go murdering innocent people otherwise [[spoiler: [[DemonicPossession you'll get possessed by]] [[AbusivePrecursors the first fallen human]] [[OmnicidalManiac and be forced to destroy the entire world]] [[ButThouMust whether you want to or not]]]]'. Made worse by the fact [[spoiler: said creature possesses your character in every subsequent playthrough and preventing you from ever achieving the GoldenEnding ever again, throwing a layer of FantasticAesop on top of that by implying 'you can't always use time travel to escape the consequences of your actions']].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': Shoplifting is bad (and anyone telling you otherwise is not your friend), because the thing you're stealing will strand you in an alternate dimension full of frog people. [[spoiler: It will then fall into the hands of a tyrannical amphibious MultiverseConqueror.]] The majority of the series focuses mainly on the "toxic friend" aspect rather than the "shoplifting" aspect, but they're both there.

** [[Recap/TeenTitansS4E5EmployeeOfTheMonth "Employee of the Month"]] is either an anti-meat Aesop or an anti-[[spoiler:''Tofu'']] Aesop, depending on how one interprets the text. Namely, [[spoiler: Beast Boy takes a job at a disgusting restaurant that specializes in gelled meat--except the "meat" is sentient Space Tofu seeking to steal cows for fuel and destroy the earth because "It is our way."]]

[[caption-width-right:236:No excuses, a bad idea is a bad idea.]]

* ''Film/{{Teeth}}'' evokes an old Space Whale Aesop: "Don't rape a girl, or the teeth in her vagina will bite off your dick." Also, "...and the audience will cheer her on because you deserve it!"

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsOTXoLLHWY Buy Duracell]], or you'll trip down a hill in the woods, become entangled in a tent that gets set on fire, and roll into a mud puddle.

* The Advertising/WilkinsCoffee [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Wilkins_Coffee commercials]] that Creator/JimHenson made in the 1950s were approaching this with obvious irony long before irony in advertising was a thing. "People who don't like Wilkins Coffee just blow up sometimes!"

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[PrejudiceAesop Racism is bad!]] Because people of minority races are [[spoiler:immune to the GovernmentConspiracy's magic memory wiping that they use to cover up where the man-eating giants are coming from! It's possible this was meant to show how some often-persecuted minorities are more aware of when governments are being oppressive.]]

* ''[[ComicBook/{{Lobo}} Lobo: I Quit]]'' is another deliberate example played as comedy. Shortly after Jonas Glim lectures Lobo on the dangers of his constant smoking, Lobo gains a wheezing cough and a shadow on his chest X-ray, suggesting not even his healing factor can keep up with the damage he's doing. At the end of the issue, Lobo has completely cured himself of his habit, a fed-up Jonas slugs him in the stomach for accidentally punching him--and Lobo coughs up [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext the harmonica he swallowed in an earlier fight with a street gang dressed as a Salvation Army band]]; turns out he never had cancer in the first place, to which he promptly celebrates by smoking the tobacco the rest of the gang was smuggling. The moral can best be summed up as "Smoking is bad for you, unless you're the Main Man".

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'' gives us "Don't be racist or else giant men from space will appear and blow up the Earth." Odin even gives [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor his son]] an extended speech about how while the Celestials pulled the trigger, it was ultimately humanity's own inability to stop fighting over petty differences that caused them to deem us a "failed experiment." Though there were a few extenuating circumstances, such as one of those giant men having been murdered by a human mutant was what kicked off the crisis.
* There was a ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' arc which involved a South American country with a ruler who suffered acute superhero envy backed up by an ex-Nazi cyborg. Either of them sound like an awesome main villain? The final villain was ''evil crack from the dawn of time'' which drove its victims insane and, at one point, absorbed Wolvie into its horrifically bloated gooey true form. The message was DrugsAreBad. It even gave us ''ComicBook/TheKingpin'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards expressing distaste for drug dealing]], making it not just a Space Whale Aesop, but an ''{{Anvilicious}}'' Space Whale Aesop.

* ''Literature/TheBoyWhoCriedWolf'': Don't lie, or else a wolf will eat your sheep, and possibly you too.
* ''Literature/ChickenLittle'': Don't jump to conclusions, or a fox will eat your friends, and possibly you too.
* ''Literature/{{Goldilocks}}'': Don't break into other people's houses, or else bears will chase you away.
* ''Literature/LittleOtik'': Don't wish for offspring or else you will be eaten by a baby monster.
* ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'': Don't talk to strangers and/or stay on the path (depending on whether Little Red goes off the path in the version you're reading or not), or else a wolf will eat your grandma and possibly you too.

* Standard in horror movies with a DeathBySex message, since showing real negative consequences of sex is often non-dramatic (even deadly [=STDs=] take years or decades to kill) or, worse, X-rated. These aesops range from from [[DeathBySex "have sex and Freddy or Jason will kill you"]] to "the SealedEvilInACan can only be opened by two people having sex on top of it (even if they don't know what it is) to "if you have sex, then you will shock and horrify your six-year-old sister whom you didn't know was watching, causing her to becoming depressed and making her vulnerable to PuppeteerParasite".

* Passed over rather quickly in ''Film/PacificRim'': Geizler mentions that the {{Kaiju}}'s [[spoiler:creators']] initial attempt to take over the planet failed owing to a lack of compatibility with the atmosphere, but now that humans have sufficiently polluted our planet, it's ripe for a batshit insane monster takeover. Go figure. It also introduces some FridgeLogic: [[spoiler: Why couldn't the {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, who have been waiting 65 million years for the atmosphere to randomly change just right, perform a feat of geo-engineering that humans managed in about a century by accident.]]

* The {{Trope Namer|s}}: ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome''. The intended aesop is "don't assume you can use up Earth's natural resources without consequence, since someday your survival might depend on them," but an early draft involving a plague in the 24th century whose cure was lost in the destruction of the rain forests was considered unworkable, and director Leonard Nimoy found whales to be majestic, so the much more entertaining aesop of "save the whales or else a gigantic SpaceWhale probe will appear out of nowhere to destroy Earth" was born.

* Many {{Urban Legend}}s have a moral, and if they do, they usually qualify:

* In Beauty and the Beast SettingUpdate ''Literature/{{Beastly}}'', don't play cruel pranks on the ugly, weird, unpopular girl in school because she might actually be a witch and put a curse on you.

* The kids' book ''Georgie Grub'': Don't hide from your mother when she tells you to take a bath, or you'll end up hiding in a trash can and being taken away by the binmen.
* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'': Evidently the moral of the story of the book "Go Eat Worms!" goes beyond "Treat others the way you'd want to be treated" and up to 11 with "Don't mistreat insects or [[spoiler: a giant version of one will come to your house and kill you"]].

* Phil Roxbee Cox's cautionary tales end with this:
** Don't be a bully or you'll be [[AlienAbduction abducted by aliens]].
** Don't steal or you'll be EatenAlive by a {{snake|sAreSinister}}.
** Don't tell lies or a GiantWallOfWateryDoom will wash you far away.
** Don't be greedy or you'll end up in a herd of {{Messy Pig}}s.
** Say "please" or an [[FeatheredFiend eagle]] will take you to its nest.

* Creator/JRRTolkien has a similar story to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. The curse thing is somewhat more justified in this story because the "bird" in question was a transformed woman. Also, it's not the mariner who gets cursed but [[spoiler: the guy who tried to kill the mariner's wife, while her twin sons were watching, over a really pretty jewel]]. The Aesop ends up being "don't let greed stop you from being compassionate, or you'll be cursed to be homeless forever". Which downplays the Space Whale Aesop, in that if you are nice to people they are more likely to help you when you're in trouble. Tolkien undermined the Aesop slightly by making the characters who did this wicked deed rather too sympathetic.
* Creator/RoaldDahl was rather fond of these.
** ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': Don't be a [[BigEater glutton]], a gum chewer, a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled brat]], or a [[NewMediaAreEvil TV fanatic]], or you will get sucked up a pipe, [[JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife inflated into a blueberry]], fall into a trash chute, or [[IncredibleShrinkingMan get shrunk]], respectively.
** ''The Magic Finger'': Don't hunt ducks, or you will wake one day as a winged human the size of a duck while the ducks will become humanoid and hunt ''you'' for sport.
** ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'': Don't be a [[SadistTeacher mean teacher]], or your smartest student will develop psychic powers with which to torment you.
** ''Literature/TheTwits'': Don't be jerks to your pets, or they will trick you into gluing yourself to the floor [[spoiler:and then you will shrink into nothing]].
** ''Literature/TheWitches'': [[TooSmartForStrangers Don't trust strangers]], because they might be witches who want to commit genocide on all children.
** ''Revolting Rhymes: Jack and the Beanstalk'': Bathe every day so giants can't smell you. Guess you'll have to deal with those witches (who are attracted to human scent, and so bathing gives you away).
** ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator'': Don't be foolish with medication, or you'll either be [[ToiletHumour forced to stay seven hours in the toilet per day]], or [[FountainOfYouth de-age]] into a "minus" (i.e. somebody who is not born yet).
** ''Revolting Rhymes: Goldilocks and the Three Bears'': Respect others' property and don't climb into someone else's bed with grimy shoes, or else a bear will eat you.

* Dr Seuss's story ''Steak for Supper'': Don't say anything while walking home from school (yes, really) or else some made-up creatures might like the sound of that information and follow you home despite you and your family not being able to cater to them.
* The Dr. Seuss story ''The Strange Shirt Spot'': Stay out of the dirt, or else you'll get a strange blue stain on your shirt that sticks to everything you clean it with.

* The aesop of the series ''Literature/{{Woodwalkers}}'' is "Don't kill wild pumas or the shapeshifter who was in love with one of them will try to destroy humankind with a bunch of other racist shapeshifters."

* ''Literature/ThidwickTheBigHeartedMoose'': Don't be a bad guest, or else you'll end up stuffed and mounted on a wall.

** The episode "Beer Bad" combined an {{anvilicious}} message about the dangers of alcohol with a plotline about cursed magical beer turning college kids into cavemen. It does lampshade it at the end, though:

*** This episode was actually made with the intention of getting a grant from the Office of National Drug Controller Policy which would be paid to shows that had an anti-drugs or anti-alcohol message but was rejected due to being "otherworldly nonsense".
** There's also this delightful exchange from "Reptile Boy":

* ''Series/TheXFactor'' also has this trope applying to it [[http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/156897/X-FACTOR-KATIE-S-NAKED-VID/ as seen here.]] Probably the biggest Space Whale Aesop the show has given out as a message--become a contestant and have your dirty laundry [[BleachedUnderpants literally launched into the limelight]].

* Parodied in one episode of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': be careful what you say, because your words might travel down a [[OurWormholesAreDifferent freak wormhole]], get misheard by alien leaders at a conference as something insulting about one of them's mother, they'll end up going to war, eventually deciding the source of the problem is Earth which they team up to invade, and due to bizarre miscalculations of size, [[spoiler:end up getting swallowed by a small dog.]] And all because Arthur Dent is having terrible trouble with his lifestyle.

** Taking drugs to solve your problems and get around developing will result in you becoming [[spoiler:a sugar-high monster with a permanent grin that goes around trying to get your friends in to a four-way marriage and having an obsession with fancy Santas.]]
* [[http://imgur.com/gallery/0X1wx "The Impact Of Your Words":]] If you're polite and understanding to a person who's expressing their thoughts to you, the two of you will relate and become a couple [[spoiler:who together fend off an alien invasion.]] If you're rude and demanding to your partner instead, [[spoiler:you'll be abducted by aliens.]]

* ''WebVideo/{{Phelous}}'' once reviewed ''[[Creator/GoodTimesEntertainment GoodTimes]]' WesternAnimation/MiracleInToyland'', evaluating that its moral is "[[https://youtu.be/bbByV7ymDH4?t=1442 if you have an absentee father]], toys will come to life to help you save him, and teach him the lesson that you should actually give a remote crap about your kid! If that '''doesn't''' happen, it just means your heroes don't love you."

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had one episode, "Dos Boot", which aired in June 2002, with the [[AnAesop aesop]] of "Don't open an email unless you know where it's from" but that quickly degenerated into "Don't mess with the internal workings of a PC or you'll end up stuck as [[CreepyCrossdresser cross-dresser photos on the wall]] by a possible YaoiFan" (that was ''one'' interpretation of the episode). Doubles as a SpoofAesop too.

* One of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends''' U.S. Acres cartoons featured Roy leaving the farm to go into showbiz, and joining the [[SickeninglySweet annoyingly edutaining]] Buddy Bears show to teach kids proper manners and hygiene habits. He played the Goofus to the female Buddy Bear's Gallant, and not only were the consequences ridiculous, but one of the Bears literally warned them as cause-and-effect relationships along the lines of "If you don't [do polite/clean/encouraged-by-parents'-groups behavior], a [random large heavy object] will fall on your head."

* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2020'': The moral of "Ralph Gets the Blues" is to realise that ItsOkayToCry and tell your friends if you're sad... or you'll literally turn blue.

* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' has the episode "Vowel Play", in which a crime ring is using skywriting to send coded messages, and [[IdiotHero Baloo]] keeps misspelling words and [[NiceJobBreakingItHero making things worse]]. They eventually find a code book one of the bad guys dropped, and, working with the police, use mispelled words on purpose to interfere with the crooks' plot, but almost screw that up as well. The whole point of the episode is to teach kids that spelling is important, but how likely is it kids will actually encounter a crime ring that does something like this?
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had a few, usually attached to {{Bizarro Episode}}s.