the buzz log
The Borat Pack
Call it the "Jackass" of political satire. Call it the funny man’s Michael Moore. But most of all, call "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" a learning lesson for 20th Century Fox.
The studio second-guessed the mockumentary, but that only allowed the film to make box office history. Of course, the Buzz has seen searches percolating for months around Borat. Now, riding a weekend victory, searches for Sacha Baron Cohen’s comic vérité have been outstripping queries for any other movie currently in theaters or coming up (including "Saw 3" or "Casino Royale"). With studio execs re-evaluating their tracking process and rushing to expand the number of screens this Friday, Borat's buzz should escalate.
Besides details on the movie release and trailer, people have also been looking for details on "borat box office," "borat soundboard" or "borat quotes." A cameo appearance by Pamela Anderson made an impression as people tried to figure out if the actress was in on the joke, although the former "VIP" star has been subject to Cohen’s pranks in the past. Most importantly, people want to know about Borat, the man.
It might be no surprise that Borat's legions are heavily male, but what may raise some eyebrows is that the capitol leads the nation in fueling the searches. Maybe without a Jon Stewart-Stephen Colbert ticket, "Borat" is the next best election antidote.
Does Borat's Buzz Add Up?
After Fox slashed the number of opening weekend screens from 2,100 to around 800, you might expect buzz on "Borat" to be shriveling. It's not the case, as we found searches on the comedy are up 46% this week. While the studio cited lack of consumer awareness as a cause for the dramatic cutback, the comic creation of Sacha Baron Cohen resides in our top 500 searches overall—so moviegoers do know who he is.
But did Borat's buzz peak too early? Searches on Borat easily trump the other two films in wide release this weekend. He's pulling down about 10 times as many searches as the animated "Flushed Away" and 20 times as many as the tired third installment of the "Santa Clause" series.
But does Search interest indicate moviegoers will shell out for tickets? Borat's shtick appeals to dudes. Three-quarters of searches on the "Kazakh reporter" come from guys who will have to drag their dates to experience his uncomfortable brand of humor. He's hottest with guys 25-29—pulling in 14% of his searches from the key demo.
And for all the talk about whether Cohen's character will play in flyover America, we checked the top ten metros responsible for Borat searches. While the list is dominated by the coasts, smack dab at #6 is Des Moines, Iowa—about as Midwest as Midwest can be. Will Borat eventually make it to a wide release? The buzz says yes, but it remains to be seen if he'll fizzle like "Snakes on a Plane" or sizzle like "Napoleon Dynamite."
"Borat Like You!"
We popped into a movie theater recently to escape the sweltering heat and get a fix of natural butter flavoring. The feature was as flat as the Mr. Pibb, but in the previews we got a first-hand taste of the building buzz on Borat Sagdiyev (+24%).
"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhastan," an upcoming comedy starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (+167%), features the exploits of a Kazakh journalist on a mission to America. Given the crowd's reaction, upon its release in November, the movie may be as hot as a big steamy bowl of beshparmak.
Cohen is also featured in Will Ferrell's new NASCAR comedy, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." Cohen's role as French bad guy Jean Girard should solidify his niche in heavily accented comedy. In the words of Ali G (+12%): Booyakasha!
Filed under: Movies, Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
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