Donkeys and Elephants and Delegates,oh my!
Check out the most popular
Kazakhs Combat "Borat" Image with Huge Ads in New York Times
tmz.com — It might not be coming out until November, but the upcoming film "Borat," starring Sacha Baron Cohen as a faux-Kazakh buffoon, is making Kazakhstan deeply nervous about its national image -- so much so that the country's government took out a pricey four-page full-color ad in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune today.
analisau- 541 diggs
- digg it
- gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27This is a nice!! /Borat
- illicium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16I like!
- happyfappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Tight like man's anus!
- stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Damn straight. No matter what they say or do, it will only add to the hilarity. For Cohen, it can't get any sweeter.
I don't feel sorry for Kazakhstan though. The massive publicity has put them on the map, and that can only be a good thing. - ilyag, on 10/12/2007, -19/+7Here's some fun trivia for you:
China is currently thought to have approximately 180 nuclear warheads. Know how many Kazahkstan has?
1,400
I hope you sleep well at night knowing that a country most of you could never spot on the map is one of the biggest nuclear powers in the world. - stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -9/+10Well, that looks impressive, but everyone knows, by the time the donkey carts get the bombs to their targets the war will have ended.
- remove, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23To ilyag:
That's *****. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Kazakhstan inherited 1,400 nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union, and returned them all to Russia by 1995. They have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. - megaloid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This article reminds me of a passage from a book I read describing the history of derision and abuse by ethnic Russians against Kazakhs during the old Soviet Union. According to this book, the Russians had a habit of calling another Russian "Kazakh" when they did something stupid or absent-minded, sort of like "baka" (fool) in Japanese.
- stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3You are right megaloid, it really is in deplorable taste. We owe the Kasakhs a vodka and an apology... as soon as we can stop laughing. :^D
- elroy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2You can bet they're pissed off. You've got a largely Muslim populous being publicly mocked by a guy named "Cohen"......
- RyanJohnston, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ilyaq:
How could people not know where Kazakhstan is? It is huge. It is a very important central Asian nation. If I recall properly, the Russians still launch their space missions from Kazakhstan.
- bonked, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Now there is a country I want to visit - one that has no understanding of this thing called "humor."
- wizawuza, on 10/12/2007, -4/+19I think it's more that they're afraid that Americans won't understand that it's humor.
- Bbbb, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3I'm not sute the humor is about Khazakstan.
- Greattastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And they're willing to spend as much as 40 kazakhs make in a year for a four page ad in a country that skips over advertisements
- Crimsoneer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Borat is King. Wawawiwaa! Happy times! ALthough I do understand the Kazakhs worries
- Ub3rg33k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Anyone have a link to the actual ad they ran?
- analisau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I looked all over and couldn't find the ads themselves. But they are described here:
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003187151
- analisau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I looked all over and couldn't find the ads themselves. But they are described here:
- Colbert, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9so sad that a country actually feels the need to defend itself against comedy. dont they have better uses for the money?
- mhockey14221, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2no. they need to starve their people somehow.
- pennyfan87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I would think so...
Borat sister is voted number two prostitute in hole contry...it is not cheap.
but very nice! - smcavoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1not really, its a "democratic" dictatorship. i.e. opposition leaders end up dead all the time.
So they have lots of time to worry about what people think of them... Gotta love how the Kazah president (who has lots of oil) meets with Bush where as Fidel Castro (who has little oil) is this evil figure...
- Buddhist, on 10/12/2007, -15/+2This my sister. She is #1 whore in all of Kazakhstan!
- gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12correction: "she number one prostitute"
- ZennZero, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Borat's sister is only number four.
- jabbar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3she was voted #2 in oral sex by his city council
- Greattastic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1number four.
- splato, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Isn't it Kazakhstanis? Like Pakistanis? I know Paki is derogatory so Kazakhs might be in the same catogry.
- Aloyarc, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Ok, Paki.
- zouden, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No, they are Kazakhs. The country is called Kazakhstan simply because it's where the Kazakhs live.
- BasouKazuma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The suffix "stan" means "land of". So it's Land of the Kazakhs, Land of the Pakis, etc. There are a lot of countries with that suffix.
- jabbar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i call myself paki.
- john2kx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5title should read "Kazakhs Kombat "Borat" Image..."
- CBTF, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6They need to stop whining.
- thenativeraver, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4http://digg.com/videos_comedy/Borat_s_Guide_to_America
FYI just in case you're left in the dark... - gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4I thought they were going to execute Borat if no one saw his movie though? /inside joke
- gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2For those digging me down...watch the damn trailer...where Borat says
"Please watch my movie, or I execute" - LexisNexis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3We saw the trailer, your joke was poorly executed.
- gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2For those digging me down...watch the damn trailer...where Borat says
- modiggs1976, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Bad: Leader of Kazakhstan seems to have no sense of humor
Good: Kazakhstan, unlike US and A, is trying to improve its image. - john2kx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7it's funny because people didn't even know Kazakhstan even existed before this movie.. And now they're trying to combat the image? I'd embrace it fully if I were them.
- Blizzardman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4So true, I was suprised to find out it was a real place =/.
- Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@john2kx: Don't you mean no americans had heard of kazakhstan before borat came along. Always remember, the maps used in other countries depict more than just north america on them. ;)
- lopresmb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11calling people Kazakhs is quite alright. They don't mind. I've been to Kazakhstan, its a beautiful country - couple pictures I took:
http://web.mac.com/lopresmb/iWeb/Mark%27s%20Site/Favorite%20Photos_files/003_0A.jpg
http://web.mac.com/lopresmb/iWeb/Mark%27s%20Site/Favorite%20Photos_files/008_5.jpg
--and my Kazakh friend Timur :
http://web.mac.com/lopresmb/iWeb/Mark%27s%20Site/Favorite%20Photos_files/IMG_0019.jpg- gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Wow I excite! To visit for vacation!
- tarzan99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is Timur lame?
- NinjAlt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Their reaction is what damaged their image. Not the movie.
- xtr3m, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Am I the only one who thinks that this is all done by the movie's promotion team? Goverments just don't buy ad space in newspapers that are published on the other side of the globe.
Either way, I'm a huge fan of Borat and hope the movie becomes a great success!- Dutchmang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2First thing I thought too -- This has got to be a stunt by the producers.
BTW, Borat's sister is "number THREE prostitute in all Kazakhstan." She "number one with mouth." - qwame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This has to be a promitional stunt. A country taking out an ad about the Borat movie would do nothing but draw more attention to the movie, especially to people who might not have heard about it, but would now go see the movie just see what the fuss is all about.
- Dutchmang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2First thing I thought too -- This has got to be a stunt by the producers.
- kev1n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Wouldn't that kind of be money wasted? I'd think that readers of the NYT and IHT would be better educated about the world than most newspapers.
- coheedcollapse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They need to remember that not everyone in the friggin world are idiots. We know he's fake, we know he's a comedian.
If they wanted to do the smart thing, they'd embrace it, hell, invite "Borat" to the country sometime so hang out.- ebrandsberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Riding on the coat-tails of humor can only help the tourism to this country. I think they have realized that (or the portrayal is too close to home), and are "protesting" in order to raise interest in their country. Tell me, at a bar talking to some chick, wouldn't it sound cool to be able to say "yes, I HAVE been to Kazakhstan" when talking about the movie? Also, I think they HAVE invited him to visit the country.
- ebrandsberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Riding on the coat-tails of humor can only help the tourism to this country. I think they have realized that (or the portrayal is too close to home), and are "protesting" in order to raise interest in their country. Tell me, at a bar talking to some chick, wouldn't it sound cool to be able to say "yes, I HAVE been to Kazakhstan" when talking about the movie? Also, I think they HAVE invited him to visit the country.
- mojo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://tinyurl.com/kvmmg
- ericpp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Borat's response: http://www.borat.tv/response.htm :)
- thunderball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"will i work with a light?"
- shiftless, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I don't get it. I see all of his jokes coming from a mile away.
- grayghst83, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i don't understand why kazakhstan is making the big fuss over here. da ali g show has been around for years, with borat as one of the characters. not only that, sascha baron cohen is british! neither the show nor movie is american, but the majority of the publicity is being placed on us here in the states. are we americans too stupid to get that it's a joke?
- salivalnz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is it not a bit of an insult to people's intelligence to suggest that they can't work out the whole Borat thing is elaborate satire?
- justinsullivan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's a sad reality, but a reality nevertheless.
- xjeffx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Shutup Kazakhstan! We don't even know where your country is on a map let alone care about your image. When I first saw Da Ali G show I thought Kazakhstan was made up.
- UberC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Free publicity. The studio couldn't have asked for anything better.
- macgoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I didn't even know that Kazakhstan existed before Borat was on the scene. He is probably the best thing that has ever happened to the country.
- chatty82, on 10/12/2007, -0/+013 of the national passports in the 14 "separate" Russian republics of the CIS, formed in 1992, still carry the old empty dualism "ethnic and non-ethnic". It isn't clear whether it's based on race or clothing. If it was feral or non-feral it would have some meaning, but they believe that humans should wear polyester, and ethnic people should wear cotton. If they see humans wearing cotton, the Russians get all mixed up!
The revolutionary new Kazakh passport has 3 categories, "ethnic", "non-ethnic" and "Jew." Great, this isn't really an improvement in their system. The new capital of Astanay out in the desert is not connected to anywhere by roads, but if they ride out to their jobs on horseback and use horse urine in their samovars for coffeebreaks, they still believe they are "non-ethnic" since it is a workplace and they wear crummy rayon clothes to work.
Kazak anthropology lesson concluded, and yikes, I hope not my life with a scimitar (that's the opposite of a samovar) for ratting on the Cossacks....They have a Kazakh stock market. The cossack language is essentially English, but they write in down in either the the Arabic alphabet or the Cyrillic. - B0jangles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2These play casettes.
- hiscity, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Poor Kazahks, they don't know they've been duped. Let's see if we can help them.
Borat is actually a turkmeni agent that works for Niyazov, the bizarro president of Turkeministan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov
Here's a sample of his weirdness....
""""
Presidential decrees
As President-for-Life of Turkmenistan, he has issued many unconventional decrees, such as:
In March 2004, dismissing 15,000 public health workers in wide-ranging cuts that particularly targeted nurses, midwives, school health visitors and orderlies[4]
In April 2004, urging young people not to get gold tooth caps or gold teeth, suggesting instead that they chew on bones to preserve their teeth[5]
In February 2005, ordering the closure of all hospitals outside Ashgabat, saying that if people were ill, they could come to the capital; also ordering the closure of all rural libraries of Turkmenistan, saying that ordinary Turkmen do not read books anyway[6]
In November 2005, ordering that physicians swear an oath to him instead of the Hippocratic Oath[4]
In December 2005, banning video games, stating that they were too violent for young Turkmen to play
In January 2006, Russian media reported he had ordered to stop paying pensions to 1/3 (more than 100,000) of the country's elderly people, cutting pensions to another 200,000, and ordering to pay the pensions received in the past two years back to the State. This has supposedly resulted in a huge number of deaths of old people, who may have had their pension (ranging from US$10 to US$90) as the only source of money. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan strongly denied [7] these allegations, accusing the media outlets of spreading "deliberately perverted" information on the issue.
In September 2006, the Telegraph reported that Turkmenbashi had issued a new pay scale for Turkmen teachers, which was to come into effect in October of that year. Until then, teachers who wished to avoid being put on the lowest grade of pay or even sacked, would have to write a newspaper article praising Turkmenbashi and have it published in one of the two newspapers of the country.
Monuments to Niyazov...
A gold statue of Niyazov
Niyazov wearing a suit in solid gold
Niyazov revolves to face the sun
Niyazov with his coat in solid gold
Culture
In addition to placing himself at the center of Turkmen culture, Niyazov has sought to promote the culture to the world and cleanse it of Russian and Western influences. He has shut down opera and ballet companies, claiming them to be "unnecessary". Western-style universities and conservatories have been closed. Libraries have all been closed. Recorded music has been banned. He introduced a new Turkmen alphabet based on the Latin alphabet to replace Cyrillic and renamed the days and months after himself, his family members, national heroes and symbols described in the Ruhnama. According to this new calendar, January is called "Turkmenbashi". Niyazov has proposed to build new wonders of the world in Turkmenistan; these include an ice palace in August 2004 [1] and a large zoo in September 2005. The "ice palace" (ultimately an indoor ice skating rink rather than an ice structure) was completed in May 2006.[2]
Personality cult
Niyazov is an authoritarian leader and is notorious in Western countries for the personality cult that he has established around himself in Turkmenistan. Claiming Turkmenistan to be a nation devoid of a national identity, he has attempted to rebuild the country to his own vision. He renamed the town of Krasnovodsk, on the Caspian Sea, Turkmenbashi after himself, in addition to renaming several schools, airports and even a meteorite after himself and his immediate family. Niyazov's face appears on Manat banknotes and large portraits of the president hang all over the country, especially on major public buildings and avenues. Statues of himself and his mother are scattered all over Turkmenistan, including one in the middle of the Kara Kum desert as well as a gold-plated statue atop Ashgabat's largest building, the Neutrality Arch, that rotates so it will always face into the sun and shine light onto the capital city. Niyazov has commissioned a massive palace in Ashgabat commemorating his rule. He has been given the hero of Turkmenistan award five times. "I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want," Niyazov has said.
The education system indoctrinates young Turkmen to love Niyazov, with his works and speeches making up most of their textbooks' content. The primary text is a national epic written by Niyazov, the Ruhnama or Book of the Soul. This book, a mixture of revisionist history and moral guidelines, is intended as the "spiritual guidance of the nation" and the basis of the nation's arts and literature. With Soviet-era textbooks banned without being replaced by new publications, libraries are left with little more than Niyazov's works. In 2004, the dictator ordered the closure of all rural libraries on the grounds that he thought that village Turkmen do not read. In Niyazov's home village of Kipchak, a complex has been built to the memory of his mother, including a mosque (est. at US$100 million) conceived as a symbol of the rebirth of the Turkmen people. The walls of this edifice display precepts from the Ruhnama along with Qur'an suras.
His official title is "His Excellency Saparmurat Niyazov "Turkmenbashi" President of Turkmenistan and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers".
Older pictures of him had white hair; these days it is black.
"""" - BasouKazuma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Well at least this whole situation is making the Kazakh's think about their international image. They dont have one!
- optimusfx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I saw a Kazakhstan commercial on Headline News this morning. I thought that was very weird.
- roqs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Sacha Baron Cohen is a zionist prat.
The Digg Toolbar for Firefox lets you Digg, submit content, and keep track of Digg even when you're not on the Digg site. Download the official 
© Digg Inc. 2008 —
Content posted by
