Kazakhstan Tries U.S. Image Makeover

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com's Jennifer Hoar

---

Contrary to what you might have heard from a certain hirsute, socially indecorous, verbally impulsive "reporter" from Kazakhstan named Borat, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan is not a hub of misogyny and anti-Semitism.

"It is impossible to imagine the country with the things he describes," says Kazakh Embassy spokesman Roman Vassilenko. For one, "women have equal rights with men," he says.

For those who have been under a pop culture crater, Borat is one of the characters played by actor Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Ali G, in his hit series that began running on HBO in 2003 and on Channel 4 in the U.K. in 2000. Borat's latest antics are feature film-ready in the upcoming "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

For as much as Borat has received comedic acclaim on both sides of The Pond, he has been an inflammatory point for the Kazakh government. An oil and gas-rich nation of Central Asia that is looking to become a bigger player on the world stage, Kazakhstan does not want as its unofficial spokesperson someone who depicts the country as a primitive potentate while promiscuously perpetrating all manner of social faux pas.

This concern is particularly pronounced as Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev visits the United States this week — he meets with President Bush on Friday. While Borat and his influence upon American perception of Kazakhstan will not figure into the leaders' agenda, per se, the Kazakh government has launched a PR campaign to disabuse the public of any false notions propagated by the self-appointed mustached mouthpiece.

Vassilenko says the Borat issue is not the central motivation behind this week's slew of ads promoting Kazakhstan in U.S. newspapers. However, the controversy he has created is not being overlooked, either.

"To make sure the joke is lost on nobody, we want to tell the [American] people about the real Kazakhstan," Vassilenko says. The controversy associated with Borat, he concedes, "is making the PR campaign more worth it."

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »