Kazakhstan Finally Adopts Borat’s ‘Very Nice’ As Tourism Slogan

After nearly two decades of rejecting Sacha Baron Cohen’s satirical depiction of Kazakhstan in Borat, the country’s tourism board has finally given in and embraced the ‘Very Nice!’ publicity he brings.

Of course, Cohen’s depiction of Kazakhstan has been less than complimentary, suggesting some of those who live there – mainly Borat and his family – are incestuous, sexist and incredibly antisemitic.

However, following the release of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm on Friday, October 23, the tourism board has finally given in to the ‘any publicity is good publicity’ mentality.

You can check out Kazakhstan Travel’s official new slogan video here:

Very Nice!

Speaking to the New York Times, Kairat Sadvakassov, the deputy chairman of Kazakhstan’s tourism board, explained the reason behind the U-turn.

‘In COVID times, when tourism spending is on hold, it was good to see the country mentioned in the media,’ he told the publication. ‘Not in the nicest way, but it’s good to be out there.’

While Sadvakassov confessed that the board’s initial instinct was to ‘let it die its natural death and not respond,’ it was the efforts of Dennis Keen, a former American exchange student who settled in the country, which changed that.

He and a colleague, Yermek Utemissov, produced the four short highlights shown in the tourism video, which all feature locals commenting on the ‘very nice’ offerings of the country.

Cohen himself seems to be relieved that Kazakhstan appears to have finally forgiven him for his portrayal of the country, after he issued a statement confirming ‘the Kazakhstan in the film has nothing to do with the real country.’

‘I chose Kazakhstan because it was a place that almost nobody in the US knew anything about, which allowed us to create a wild, comedic, fake world. The real Kazakhstan is a beautiful country with a modern, proud society—the opposite of Borat’s version,’ he added.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.

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