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Client: FOX

Has it been all that long since self-styled internet dating "celebrity" Mahir came onto the online scene, with his broken Turkish/English and "I Kiss You" catchphrase? While few users probably took him seriously at the time, one man is now setting out to prove that Hollywood can cash in on media that highlights what happens when cultures collide. That man is Borat, and his MySpace site captures all the humor, confusion and, possibly, naivete of a Kazakh's experience as a journalist who must report back to his country on what America is really like.

The site is, of course, part of the promotions for the FOX film, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," and really serves more as a way for Americans to see what Americans are like-- the good, the bad and the prejudicial.

The movie follows the character of Borat, first developed by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for his late night HBO series "Da Ali G Show." Typical of Cohen, who refuses to break from his Borat character for anything short of physical threat, the MySpace page has the look and feel of the character's vision of America. Not only does the site help viewers familiarize themselves with the character of Borat, it offers ringtones, a video blog of additional exploits, the ubiquitous theme music from the movie and links to bonus footage that stays in step with the journalistic premise. To date, "Borat" has 340,838 friends on MySpace-- compare that to the 37,606 friends of "Casino Royale" and 8,968 friends of "Happy Feet" (this week's openers that knocked Borat from the number one spot) and you get an idea of the reach of this media phenomenon.

The official site design is sparse and archaic-- just as some might believe the country of Kazakhstan to be. And, as with all facets of Borat and his movie, the lines between reality -- and real prejudice -- and make believe are blurred, lending both sites an air of embarrassing authenticity, rather than a whiff of marketing ploy.
--Jodi Harris, managing editor, Entertainment Spot

Sometimes I don't think movie studio marketing departments know how to use the online space to promote their films. When a movie comes out, studios launch a flashy Flash website and throw a few wallpapers, a synopsis and a trailer on it. Then they leave it to die. It's boring. Who's going to download the "The Grudge 2" podcast anyway?

The marketing plan behind "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was unique in a number of ways, online and offline. Sacha Baron Cohen did all of the publicity for the film in character which, although it may have annoyed some news professionals, did more to promote the film than if Cohen had gone on Letterman and Leno as himself and talked about racism and religious intolerance. 

The marketing team kept the theme going online as well. Borat has a MySpace page (with a design reminiscent of Mahir the Turkish Stud's website circa the mid 1990s) and the Kazakhstan Ministry of Information (but not the real Kazakhstan Ministry of Information) promotes Borat and the movie on the official site.
 
These sites have the usual movie website components such as trailers, wallpapers and ringtones, but they stand out in a crowd of boring Hollywood movie sites because they're both just very, very funny. And maybe that's the whole point. Ringtones and buddy icons are cute, but if you're promoting a comedy, shouldn't all of your marketing be a refection of the level of humor in the movie itself? Anyway I like the Borat sites. They nice!
-- Christa Imbriale, interactive producer, Arnold Worldwide

I may be suffering from my Borat binge. The Kazakhstani roving reporter seemed to be all anyone could talk about for the past two weeks. I have seen more Borat clips on YouTube than anything else. People in my office have a favorite line, sing their favorite Borat tune and give each other the Borat "High Five!"

For all the pre-release hype and fanfare, I'm surprised to see how minimal the Borat website and MySpace page are. As I've mentioned in previous showcases, I'm not a big fan of the commercialized MySpace page, and this is no exception. The audio and video clips added little beyond the clips already on the Borat website.

Yes, Borat is only the second Kazakh to have a page on MySpace. However, in light of the dozens of articles about online predators lurking in social networking sites, I'm curious how the suits at News Corp felt about Borat saying that the first Kazakh was removed "for sex crimes." That said, with more than 340,000 people signed up as Borat's friends, I'd guess that they'd be more annoyed with the links to YouTube video clips instead of retaining those eyeballs on their own properties.

The Borat "Ministry of Information" site offers very little outside of the buddy icons and wallpapers. While I understand this is all in the spirit of a third-world nation's official website, I can't help but be disappointed.  For a creative showcase, this doesn't feel all that creative to me. Maybe it's just a Borat hangover.
-- Corey Kronengold, senior marketing manager, 121Media