A FROWN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
In 2006, when British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen unleashed his bizarre alter-ego Borat Sagdiyev on the world in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan , the character’s real-life birth nation was not amused. The film — in which the buffoon journo travels from his central Asian country to explore American customs — is a satire that primarily pokes fun at the US. But its painting of Borat’s home as a backward breeding ground for anti-Semites and misogynists clearly irked its leaders.
It was banned in Kazakhstan, and the government threatened legal action. It also took out a four-page ad in the New York Times before the film’s release “in what appeared to be … an attempt to head off the fallout”, the Guardian reported at the time.
Almost 15 years later, and with the release of a sequel, officials have seen the bright side and are now embracing the attention by making Borat’s catchphrase — “Very nice!” — their official tourism slogan.
Coinciding with last week’s release of Borat Subsequent
Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Kazakh Tourism released a campaign that uses the phrase — Borat’s highest compliment — to underline the country’s attractions and persuade potential tourists that Khazakstan is, in fact, glorious. No jokes.
In four 12-second video ads, heavenly shots of snow-capped mountains and turquoise lakes are interspersed with tourists exploring. One shows a man trying a traditional dish in a market; another has a woman marvelling at its modern, almost futuristic city architecture. Each clip ends with a happy visitor declaring the experience “Very nice!”
The caption for the ad on YouTube, posted on the Kazakhstan Travel account, also hints playfully at the Borat link: “How can you describe a place this surprising in just two words? As a wise man one said, ‘Very nice!’ ”
The good-humoured campaign appears to be winning hearts and minds, with many commenting on social media that though they’ve never before considered it, the beautiful ads have shot Khazakstan to the top of their travel bucket lists.
Pictured here is one of its several national parks. Declared in 1996, it stretches for about 4,600km² between the Ili River and the Aktau mountains and is best known for its strangely coloured landscapes and its “Singing Dune”, which hums when the wind is just right.
● To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the name of the national park. E-mail travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on Tuesday November 3. Last week’s winner is Neresh Bikramchund. The answer was Ankara.