I hated Borat, I was annoyed by the stupidity. But watching 'The
Dictator' is starting to seem like a good idea. Sacha Baron Cohen who plays
Admiral General Aladeen in 'The Dictator' has done a great job exploiting world
events to promote this film.
The first of which was when the real life dictator of North
Korea, Kim Jong Il, died Sacha Baron Cohen released this press statement:
"OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM HIS EXCELLENCY ADMIRAL GENERAL
ALADEEN - SUPREME LEADER, ALL TRIUMPHANT GENERAL AND CHIEF OPTHAMOLOGIST OF
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF WADIYA
I am saddened to learn of the passing of my dear friend Kim
Jong-Il. Our thoughts go out to his wife and 813 children. 'K-Jo' was a great
leader, good friend and average double's badminton partner. He died as he
lived, in 3-inch lifts. An extraordinary man, he did so much to spread
compassion, wisdom and uranium throughout the world.
On behalf of myself, Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Newt Gingrinch,
we would like to welcome his son, Kin Jong Un into the 'Axis of Evil'"
Amazingly in between the media coverage that focused on the destabilization
of geopolitics, the worry that South Korea would have an economic burden from dissenting
North Koreans and general questions about Kim Jong Il’s son Kim Jong Um, Sacha
Baron Cohen still managed to get press. The Gingrinch reference played into the
publicity around the Republican Primaries and gave the message more reach. It also made me hope this movie
would have a more intelligent edge than the last.
Now fast forward to the Oscars. In fear of Cohen coming in
character to promote 'The Dictator' the Academy took his tickets away which only
gave Cohen the PR bump he needed when he released this video:
It has approx. 444,000 views on Youtube and it was replayed
on E! News and TMZ to name a few. Then with his tickets returned Cohen did this
on the red carpet:
Ryan Seacrest was the perfect choice because who didn’t want
to see Seacrest taken down a notch. Out of all the people interviewing on the
red carpet, Seacrest has the biggest profile.
From being on American Idol, hosting a show on Virgin radio and dating
Julianne Houghes everyone knows Seacrest. Plus E! News is shameless about self
promotion (as seen by their excessive spots on how to get the latest Kardashian
look) not only will this be all over their channel today but they will likely
use it in their award season promo next year.
Sidenote: Love the John Galliano reference. Cause who else would
a fascist evil dictator wear but a noted anti-Semitist fashion designer who has
professed his love of Hitler?
Just type in Sacha Baron Cohen into Google and see how much earned media
he got. All this promotion and he didn’t have to pay a dime.
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