The original “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” was a worldwide box office hit and a major cultural phenomenon, but that was 14 years ago; fans moved on and a new generation lacked any nostalgia for the film.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm was an unexpected sequel, filmed in secret, and set to be launched to an audience preoccupied by the pandemic, mere weeks before a hotly contested US election would take place.

The goal was to eventize the launch and drive memorable reach, making it feel like a theatrical release, but even in Canada, news coverage of the US election had increased by 300%. So how do you eventize the release of a sequel no one is anticipating when all eyes are glued to the news? You dominate the headlines.

The only thing that could possibly match the mania of 2020 was Sasha Baron Cohen’s Borat character: a disruptive social commentator known for generating ludicrous headlines.

So, they built a plan channeling the spirit of the character, bringing him to the local market by imagining where Borat himself would visit on a trip through Canada and executing a series of publicity stunts he might use to interrupt the status quo.

We identified impact as our path back to cultural relevance, paying off Borat’s own extremism in the media to reach audiences where they were already looking.

It began with teasers seeding the arrival of something big, and it did not disappoint. Borat cruised into the Toronto harbourfront as a 40 foot inflatable atop a massive barge in an act of disruption so great it dominated Canadian news and lakefront views alike. Pictured wearing a medical mask as a bikini, he brought forth our message in his trademark stilted English: “Wear mask. Save live”.

With that call to action issued, they followed it by installing a series of outdoor mask dispensers that urged Canadians to pull a free mask off our cardboard cut-out, maskini-clad character himself. Knowing the country was deep in lockdown with masks on their mind, they carefully selected environments where people would be hyper-aware of crowds and congestion in order to solicit the strongest possible reaction.

Not to stop there, they also hit the streets with a touring video truck featuring an outrageous, dancing Borat, delivering levity and shock to passersby throughout major urban centres.

Finally, if there’s one thing Canadians love most about Borat, it’s impersonating him. So we extended our experience virtually and partnered with Snapchat to create a custom Borat face lens to invite our audience in on the fun. Very nice.

They made headlines in BlogTO, Narcity, CityTV, CTV, 680 News, CBC, ET Canada, CTV Your Morning, Hollywood Reporter, Exclaim and more with +4768% in social conversation around Borat after the campaign launch. For nation-wide impact, over 14M Canadians were reached. It generated significant lift across all key brand metrics: Ad Recall (+3.5p), Message Association (+1.3p), and Action Intent (+1.2p).