October 26, 2020

This time around, Kazakhstan rolls with the "Borat" satire and makes tourism ads with the catchphrase "Very nice!"

 

[Dennis Keen, and American who lives in Kazakhstan] hosts a travel show on a state television channel. (“I’m kind of like the American Borat,” Mr. Keen said.) When Mr. Keen learned about the sequel, he thought... Kazakhstan should embrace the Borat character’s catchphrase and turn it into the country’s tourism slogan: “Kazakhstan. Very nice!”...  Two weeks ago, Mr. Keen and a friend, Yermek Utemissov, who helps foreign film companies arrange shoots in Kazakhstan, pitched the board of tourism....
The government of Kazakhstan banned the first film and threated to sue Sacha Baron Cohen, but now, Utemissov says, “It’s a newer generation. They’ve got Twitter, they’ve got Instagram, they’ve got Reddit, they know English, they know memes. They get it. They’re inside the media world. We’re looking at the same comedians, the same Kimmel show. Kazakhstan is globalized.” 

43 comments:

tim in vermont said...

Look at who the real pedophile seeking fat bribes from Kazakhstani corrupt politicians was:

https://nypost.com/2020/10/20/photo-biden-meets-hunters-alleged-partner-from-kazakhstan/

Both of those guys are real life Borats, who sought out Hunter Biden to invest (probably launder) their stolen hundreds of millions (Kazakhstan is a poor country) into the west.

Picture taken by the Borat sounding “Kazakhstani Initiative for Asset Recovery” which is Kazakhstani for “We want the money you stole from us back!”

Rudy should have tweeted that picture at Cohen.

FullMoon said...

The movie sucks. But, looked like ol' Rudy thought the flirtatious "newswoman" interviewer was gonna do him a favor.

Kazakhstan must be better than portrayed, hard to be worse.

DarkHelmet said...

We have imposed Kimmel upon Kazakhstan? God forgive us!

Lucid-Ideas said...

I've been to Kazakhstan. There are in fact parts that are very nice. I'm a big fan of what people call "Tunguskan" landscapes (you see a lot of this in Mongolia and Iran)...wide open spaces that lean to the more semi-side of semi-arid (in other words, there's enough water in the environment to support green scrub, not dry).

I was fortunate enough to be granted temporary access to one of the site they also used for nuclear weapons testing in the late 50s in the great arid regions of Kazakhstan, which it also has. That was pretty interesting, if for no other reason than only China (see Lop Nur Test Site) and the Soviet Union ever tested full-yield megaton level devices over large contiguous bodies of land, something the USA didn't do (although we did test a thermonuclear weapon of small yield in Nevada on 2 occasions, Hood shot of Operation Plumbbob and "Sedan" during ploughshares...yes, they were both two-stage weapons).

Scott said...

This is cool. More effective than outrage, definitely.

Joe Smith said...

The first film was kind of funny...but that was a different time.

Also, SBC was relatively unknown back then and most people didn't know he was a far-left asshole.

Now we know.

You can't catch lightning in a bottle twice.

PubliusFlavius said...

That's nice for Kazakhstan, too bad Borat is banal.

Birkel said...

We apologize in advance for post-Man Show Kimmel.

Sorry, world.

readering said...

Apparently, the other place Borat is very popular is Israel, where folks recognize his Kazakh is actually Hebrew.

AndrewV said...

I guess Kazakhstan figured if you can beat him then join him.

Lurker21 said...


“It’s a newer generation. They’ve got Twitter, they’ve got Instagram, they’ve got Reddit, they know English, they know memes. They get it. They’re inside the media world. We’re looking at the same comedians, the same Kimmel show. Kazakhstan is globalized.”

For this we fought the Cold War?

Fernandinande said...

Kazakhstan has vast tracts of land.

Nonapod said...

Kazakhstan tourism board? There has to be at least a few nice things to see and do in Kazakhstan (the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty seems like it might be interesting), but I suspect it's not that high on the list of places people want to vacation.

Joe Smith said...

A more realistic slogan:

"Come for the destitute underage prostitutes, stay for the ritual beheadings."

Browndog said...

Bull.

Read some more fake news.

Everything I've read, and I've read more than I care to about this, pretty much everyone hates him, and correctly label him as a racist.

tim in vermont said...

""Come for the destitute underage prostitutes,”

I don’t think we should call victims “prostitutes.” There has to be a better word.

Magson said...

One of my sisters lived in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), KZ for about 15 months. She spent most of her time in and around that city, but also hit up Almaty a time or 2 (as well as surrounding countries for weekend getaways due to her visa requiring her to spend at least 3 days out of the country every month). She enjoyed it well enough, but noted that even though Nur-Sultan was more or less entirely built after the USSR breakup that it still very much followed Soviet building practices -- centralized heat that you couldn't control in apt buildings, poor construction quality, and so on.

Still, she found the people to be very welcoming, and said so long as you used a fake Russian accent, most people understood English just fine.

Gunner said...

Man Show Kimmel or Soyboy Libtard Kimmel?

Lurker21 said...


They rejected my suggestions:

"Kazakhstan: The Wyoming of Central Asia
You get a smile and a friendly "Salam!", but bring your own damned yurt."

and

"Kazakhstan: The Nevada of Central Asia.
Come for the quicky divorces. Stay for the gambling and prostitution."

minnesota farm guy said...

At least the people in Kazakhstan have developed a sense of humor while the rest of the world seems to have lost theirs.

bagoh20 said...

Comically tragic is that a guy millions are voting for can't reliable remember where he is, what office he's running for, or the name of his opponent who happens to be the most famous person on Earth today. Minimal mental acuity is not really important for the job though, right?

gilbar said...

don’t think we should call victims “prostitutes.” There has to be a better word.

I think the word you are looking for, is
Sex slaves

eddie willers said...

I thought it was a fake country that Cohen made up. Then I find out it's real and that it's the 9th largest country in the world.

Of course, that still does not make Cohen funny.

Leland said...

Just a reminder how woke shows like Kimmel think they are, yet the rest of the world is actually offended by them without additional context not available from the show itself. Sort of like how black face is bad, KKK is bad, but Ralph Northam can do them both because context.

Howard said...

Next, ACORN employees will dress up as pimp's and hoe's in homage to James O'Keefe.

Earnest Prole said...

Although Kazakhstan’s a glorious country, it has problems too: economic, social, and Jew.

Joe Smith said...

How about:

Kazakhstan, Gateway to Kyrgyzstan.

Tom said...

In 2008, I hired a young women out of grad school. She grew up in Kazakhstan and spoke Russian as her native language.

I knew she was from Kazakhstan and I warned everyone I worked with to never ever bring up Borat.

About 3-4 years into working with me, she brought up Borat (she was not a fan). I asked if anyone at work had ever mentioned Borat to her and the answer was, “No. And I’m a bit surprised.” I smiled and was a bit surprised my team listened.

Her father works for the Kazakhstani government (that’s how she ended up in the US - he was diplomat).

Anyway, she went on to explain that Sacha Baron Cohen has an open invitation to visit Kazakhstan any time he wants. But, he will be sentenced to death and executed as soon as he steps into the country. She said she really wanted him to go there and find out first hand how angry they were with him. I was reminded to never cross her.

I’ll have to check in to see if this is just another ploy to get him to visit. Sounds like the Running of the Borat will be horrifying to watch for everyone who isn’t from Kazakhstan.

BrentonTalcott said...

Here is the Trump v Cohen interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP5ElraFHHE

Yes the stable genius with unmatched wisdom had a very good answer.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Baron-Cohen, like Bill Maher, is a professional asshole. Some may enjoy this persona. I don't.

McCackie said...

Apart from the attempted shakedown at the airport (Visas not available 5 years ago, work entry) and the left over Russians (make the French seem polite) the locals were great. As a tea drinker I was in heaven as they really knew how to brew a pot. Just don't order a steak, they have no idea how to cook it but the lamb is to die for.

tim in vermont said...

I just had a cardiac ultrasound today and the ultrsonagrapher had an interesting accent, so I asked her where she was from and she said “Bulgaria, It has a border with Greece, Bulgaria is very nice.” If I had been drinking coffee I would have spit it.

William said...

On the plus side, he treated the people of Kazakhstan with somewhat more deference and respect than he treated Republicans.

BUMBLE BEE said...

You mean Jimmy "Oprah Jimfrey" Kimmel the famous Misogynistic Racist? That Jimmy?

Shouting Thomas said...

Unfortunately, I watched the first Borat. A non-stop juvenile Polish joke.

I won’t watch the second.

The ambush tactics this jerk employs are execrable.

tim in vermont said...

Borat seems to have a fascination with pedophiles. I am sure he will get a White House invite should Biden win and get some first hand experience. Maybe even they will provide him with a 14 year old.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/youll-bury-everyone-involved-bobulinski-recorded-biden-operatives-begging-him-stay-quiet

A lot of stuff in the above link, from threats to the mother who claimed Hunter abused her daughter to a pissed off Bobulinski who comes with receipts in the form of recordings of Biden fixers trying to shut him up. The Bidens are stoopid and greedy and think that they can screw over business partners with impunity.

RobinGoodfellow said...

“Blogger DarkHelmet said...
We have imposed Kimmel upon Kazakhstan? God forgive us!”

God? I hope Kazakhstan forgives us!

Tina Trent said...

Tifton is Terrific is my favorite slogan. Note: Tifton is a nice place in many ways, but terrific is a stretch.

I know I've previously hammered on about how smart and rollocking Elinor Burkett's books are, but her _An American Woman in all the Wrong Places_ really captures the grim insanity of places like Kazakhstan. And China. And Iran. She is a 20th Century 19th Century confident observer of unspoken truths.

Fernandinande said...

vast tracts of land.

"Huge" tracts of land.

Maillard Reactionary said...

I find it inexplicable how you find that asshole worthy of notice, Althouse.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Ferdinandinande-- The words are used by way of example and not exclusion.

Tina Trent said...

I just watched the movie.

The Hillsborough County Conservative Women's Club mocked in it are people I know well. They are decent and kind. They try to help this actress who pretends to have self-induced an abortion in their bathroom while they're letting her take over their meeting to lie to them that she has been raped and impregnated by her father.

This is leftism. This is what will happen to all of us if we don't re-elect Trump. This is why sitting this election out is evil, Ann. You have to take a stand. This isn't a game or something funny or fey. Watch the movie. Make yourself watch it. I will privately give you the phone numbers of some of the women they abuse. Talk to them. Then decide of you're going to stand for freedom or sit it out for leftist fascism.

Open your eyes.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

It's interesting to note which individuals and cultures are valid targets of satire and mockery. So very many aren't.