According to Zaripov, the idea came to them after reading an article that stated that in order to “promote” a star they need to spend a lot of money. They wanted to “prove that no millions are needed for noise in the information space,” and at the same time do something unusual so that they would start discussing it. As a result, they came up with the image of a 60-year-old successful man, “who has a sharp tongue, an athletic appearance and a love for young girls.”

For the role of the “millionaire” they found on social networks pensioner Boris Kudryashov, who lives in Khimki near Moscow and works part-time on various film sets. According to Zaripov, the man had previously acted in minor roles, so he knew how to behave in front of the camera, but was not famous. “This is very important: it could not be Googled,” Zaripov explained. He noted that the pensioner immediately agreed to the reincarnation: “We told him directly what we wanted, he was on the same page with us and was open to this idea.”

The man, according to the marketer, easily got used to the role of the owner of the plant. “If necessary, he could, with a click, enter the character and become a millionaire for eight hours. For example, if we went shopping, he would talk down to everyone and so on. And at the end of the shooting day, he became an ordinary pensioner,” said Zaripov.

Friends spent about 50 thousand rubles to promote the “ageless businessman”’s Instagram. Of these, about 20 thousand went to Kudryashov’s fee for participating in the filming, the rest was hourly car rental, payment of bills in restaurants and the purchase of several advertising posts on Instagram.

The account reached eight thousand subscribers in a few weeks and attracted the attention of journalists and advertisers. “We were invited to Channel One, to Rossiya, to make a report on happy old age, to the BBC. Journalists were ready to take everything they saw on faith, without asking for any confirmation and without checking anything,” said the marketer, adding that “Boris Bork” also received offers from clothing brands with proposals for filming.

Entrepreneurs also wrote to the pseudo-businessman, offering to invest in their projects. “What was most striking was that young people, knowing almost nothing about a person, are ready to send him their business ideas, and women of different ages who fell for the offer of free travel,” Zaripov said.

When the account exceeded ten thousand subscribers, the friends decided to end the project, because further promotion would require large investments.

“What conclusion can be drawn from this? Yes, none. It’s just that six months later I continue to be amazed how, after spending 50 thousand rubles in two months, you can make tens of thousands of adults believe in a non-existent person, without being embarrassed for a second. And add “zero” to our costs and you can create a competitor to Philip Kirkorov,”

14/10/2016

Marketer Roman Zaripov decided to make a star out of an ordinary pensioner, spending a minimum of money on it. For these purposes, “the ideal grandpa was suitable, who, renting a one-room apartment in Khimki and living on his pension, although far from the image of a rich man, looks fresh and looks great.” Roman decided to mold him into an eccentric millionaire.

There is nothing difficult in thinking through a legend and bringing the hero into real life. All the surroundings and filming locations can be easily found within the Garden Ring, and expensive cars and private jets are rented for a couple of thousand rubles per hour. Just like model-looking girls. Fortunately, in Russia no one is surprised for a long time by “rich people from nowhere,” Roman explains how he achieved success.

What conclusion can be drawn from this? Yes, none. It’s just that, six months later, I continue to be amazed at how, having spent 50 thousand in two months, you can make tens of thousands of adults believe in a non-existent person without being embarrassed for a second.

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In a short time, the whole of Moscow fell in love with this grandfather on Instagram. He became a worthy “our answer” to their grandfather in the person of the dancing Italian millionaire Gianluca Vacca. Our hero's name is simply Boris Bork. And when Boris’s Instagram stopped updating, users became worried, and for good reason.

It all started when marketer Roman Zaripov and his friend Misha Mishanya opened an Instagram account for a pensioner. Grandfather himself lived in Khimki. It's funny that rich Boris Bork is just a project. Tadam!

The creators spent 50 thousand rubles and two months of work on promotion and promotion.

A man with such appearance easily agreed to the offer to participate in the experiment. He received 2,000 rubles per day of filming. The pensioner himself had a pension of 12,000 rubles, and before retirement he worked in a shoe store.

Roman Zaripov

March of the same year. 4 months before. Almost every evening, after a working day, I go to the center to have dinner with Misha Mishanya, exchange news and chat about important things (in fact, about women and various nonsense).

One evening, in the wake of the spring creative surge, we are simultaneously discussing a dozen crazy ideas and projects and come across an article about how to create a star in 2016 and how much money is needed for this. The material contains either 6 or 7 zeros, which confuses us and at the same time challenges us.
We take out a laptop and quickly throw together 10 images that we could create ourselves to prove that no millions are needed for noise in the information space. We take the best from each image and at the end we get a 60-year-old successful man who has a sharp tongue, a sporty look and a love for young girls.
15 minutes of searching on VKontakte and we find the ideal grandpa, who, renting a one-room apartment in Khimki and living on his pension, although far from the image of a rich man, looks fresh and looks great. The next evening we sit on the patrics, tell our grandfather our crazy idea and offer, for a minimal fee, as an increase in pension, every Saturday to spend several hours of time filming with us.

Saturday. We buy clothes in the store, go to the center and take the first shots in an expensive car, a cool store and a restaurant. It takes half a day and another hour to create and register an Instagram account - https://www.instagram.com/borisbork/. Let's start posting.

After 2 weeks, we already have 10 photos on our profile, and using the “Suggest news” function in VKontakte communities, we launch a fake news story about a crazy grandfather whom we found on the Internet. We buy several advertising posts and light a candle. In a couple of hours, about 2,000 people subscribe to the account, users begin to actively like and comment on posts, and we simply enjoy watching all this and continuing to reveal the image in subsequent publications.

At the turn of 8,000 subscribers in a week, “we” are invited to Channel One as some kind of expert, to T/K Russia, to make a report about a happy old age, to 5 radio broadcasts and one public appearance. Clothing brands also contact Boris with offers to star in advertisements and accept gifts for free.
Instagram Direct receives about 30 messages a day from various young people offering their business ideas. And girls who fall for a post about a free trip to Europe and decide not to waste this opportunity.

This is where I'm starting to go a little crazy, amazed at how easy it is to deceive people, and how those who should carefully check information do not do it at all.

For a couple more weeks, as an experiment, we photograph Boris, presenting him either as an athlete or as a crazy man who came to the Pushkin restaurant with his bag from McDonald's and continue to be amazed at how popularity grows with absolutely no investment (except for food in restaurants and paying for gasoline) non-existent person.

One summer weekend, Misha and I were having a drink at the Motel, and we saw a group of young guys outside the bar discussing Boris and asking each other if they had come across him in Moscow.

In the morning, Misha goes to his dacha, and I go home to sleep and we decide to complete the experiment.
A few days pass, I arrive at work, open Facebook and see an insane number of reposts with a dancing Italian millionaire. He could easily pass for the younger brother of our domestic Boris, despite the fact that Gianluca Vacchi is a real millionaire, and Borya is a simple pensioner living in Khimki.
There is nothing difficult in thinking through a legend and bringing the hero into real life. All the surroundings and filming locations can be easily found within the Garden Ring, and expensive cars and private jets are rented for a couple of thousand rubles per hour. Just like model-looking girls. Fortunately, in Russia no one is surprised for a long time by the “rich from nowhere.”

Why am I saying this? At breakfast I saw a new video from Therr Maitz (https://youtu.be/c-MI4q50bD0) and at some point, who appeared in the frame? Right. Our Borya. Who apparently liked being in the spotlight and decided to continue his career, now starring in commercials and music videos.

What conclusion can be drawn from this? Yes, none. It’s just that, six months later, I continue to be amazed at how, having spent 50,000 rubles in 2 months, you can make tens of thousands of adults believe in a non-existent person without being embarrassed for a second.

And add 0 to our costs and you can create a competitor to Philip Kirkorov :)

ps in general we disagree, there is no fashionable Moscow grandfather.