2021 Winner
SilverBest Integrated Campaign - Budget Over $250,000
SilverBest in Entertainment
BronzeBest in Experiential/Special Event/Stunts - Budget Over $100,000
Amazon Prime Video
"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Initiative Media
"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Initiative Media
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. Even in Canada, news coverage of the US election had increased 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, the agency 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 complimented with digital and traditional media to interrupt the status quo.
They identified impact as their 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 they 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 their 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 their 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 they extended their experience virtually and partnered with Snapchat to create a custom Borat face lens to invite their 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.
The results yielded a +4768% in social conversation around Borat after the campaign launch, over 14M Canadians were reached, and it generated significant lift across all key brand metrics (ad recall (+3.5p), message association (+1.3p), and action intent (+1.2p)).
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. Even in Canada, news coverage of the US election had increased 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, the agency 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 complimented with digital and traditional media to interrupt the status quo.
They identified impact as their 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 they 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 their 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 their 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 they extended their experience virtually and partnered with Snapchat to create a custom Borat face lens to invite their 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.
The results yielded a +4768% in social conversation around Borat after the campaign launch, over 14M Canadians were reached, and it generated significant lift across all key brand metrics (ad recall (+3.5p), message association (+1.3p), and action intent (+1.2p)).
Credits
Client Team:- Prime Video Canada
Initiative (Media Agency):
- Ryan Ferguson – Manager, Communications Design
- Meghan Roach - Senior Communications Designer
- Felipe Lasso - Senior Campaign Manager
- Victor Lanza - Director, Broadcast Partnerships
- Nirogi Thevakumar - Senior Negotiator, Broadcast Partnerships
- Chris Tino - Supervisor, Broadcast Partnerships
- Dan Mudry - Supervisor, Communications Design
- Stephanie Yim - Manager, Communications Design
- Tiga Huang - Data Analyst
- Raffaele Ricchio - Director, Communications Design
- Eugenia Kung - Group Account Director, Communications Design
Craft (Creative/Production Team):
- Gerardo Moreno - Product, Client Service
- Stef Sokolowski - VP, Integrated Production Director
Hogarth (Creative/Production Team):
- Mario Castillo - Account Manager
- Octavio García Giraud - Senior Account Manager
Partners:
- Tony Schubert - Event Eleven (Borat Barge)
- Andrew Shortell - Hestia Harlow
- Dagi Back - Grassroots Advertising
- Sakaar Puri - Wild on Media
- Sonia Kharchi - Eat it Up Media
- Jordan Angelo - Eat it Up Media
- Taren Byrne - Snap
- Alanna Handelman - Snap
- Zach Beach - Branded Cities
- Levon Stevenson - Branded Cities
- Patricia Popovici - TikTok
- Curtis Weidner - TikTok
- Jordana Borst - Google
- Raffaella Fornarelli - Google