First it was the scooters...
Embracing the burn in tourism campaign
After banning the first Sacha Baron Cohen satire in 2006, Kazakhstan has had a big turnaround and has created tourism ads to capitalise on the latest movie. While Cohen was bracing himself for another fight with the Kazakh government. It never came. According to
the New York Times, Kazakhstan's tourism board, decided use the catchphrase "Kazakhstan. Very nice!" officially. This time round there is a new generation, a local audience who get - they've got Twitter, they've got Instagram, they've got Reddit, they know English, they know memes. In short, Kazakhstan is globalised. Watch the ads here.
Generations collide
"I was walking up Queen Street, CBD this morning at 6:35am — off for a blood test," writes a reader. "Keeping as far to the left as possible, minding my own business. I noticed ahead of me a tall, young man (early 20s probably) striding down the street – he'd already forced a lady in front of me to step into a doorway. He's walking on my side of the footpath and I can see that I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting out of his way; I cant go any further to the left than I am now. I assume he will step to his left to give me room. Nope. He keeps coming. I'm a reasonably fit 63 year-old woman with a stubborn streak a mile wide! I stick to my guns and keep going. Wham! We collide! I'm surprised that I am still upright! My pride is hurt but nothing else. I carry on as if I don't have a care in the world. Who knows what happened behind me – I didn't stop to look."
Dunedin love story
