Stephen Colbert is so not selling men’s clothing in Iran

Colbert Nation forum member Golgo13 has shared some very humorous pictures taken during a recent trip to Iran. According to Golgo13:

I went to Iran recently and saw Stephen Colbert Advertising for a popular men’s store… Not only in Tehran but also in Shiraz.

Of course he does not officially endorse the store but since Iran does not comply with international copyright and trademark laws they can put whoever they want on their ads.

Here’s some pictures taken by Goglo13, and for those of who who read the August 2008 Esquire article, this picture will look awfully familiar. Hopefully one of the Zoners speaks Farsi – like many of the Colbert Nation forum members, I’d love to know what he’s “saying”, too!

maxim1
maxim2

Comments

  1. jentaps says:

    OMG, that is so wild! I hope someone can translate for us.

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    • laughing at nothing says:

      Whatever it is, it’s “MAXIM collection”! His hand gestures are hilarious.

      reCAPTCHA: pound Married.
      I ain’t saying nothing. XD

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  2. mrtigger001 says:

    LOL that’s hilarious! someone’s been taking a little too much liberty with their interpretation of copyright!

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  3. Tahi says:

    Man, they really photoshopped him. Or at least got rid of his tie. I really hope this makes it on the show.

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    • wildlymissingthemark says:

      in iran, as you may know, the govt strongly discourages men from wearing ties, because it is, to the old-fashioned hard liners, a symbol of the “evil western” culture. a lot of young people and moderates wear ties, but you won’t see men on tv or in any media having a tie.

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  4. forsakinghalfloves says:

    Maxim clothing?? Hilarious!

    And is it just me, or does Stephen look so shiny…almost like plastic? Or is that the Photoshop job? I’m pretty tech-illiterate, you see. :)

    reCAPTCHA: expecting T-shirt

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  5. Spoon at a Spork Fight says:

    Ha! I love how Stephen comes across as the Universal Caucasian Business Male™ in promo pics for the show. (Although, did they photoshop out a tie?) I seem to recall a Daily Show where an audience member brought Jon a picture of a suit/tailor shop in . . . Thailand? Hong Kong? Using a TDS promo shot of him in a large advertisement. Fame! Though Big in Iran doesn’t have quite the same ring as Big in Japan. Awesome work Golgo13!

    Captcha: Poopte time (*eyebrow* was Captcha watching the biologist interview too?)

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  6. Val says:

    What a hilarious way to start of an early morning! I love it.

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  7. Ann G. says:

    That is pretty darn funny, and yes I do believe they photoshopped out the tie. I so want to see them do something with this on the show!

    (reCAPTCHA: $3.13-million Gould. Well alrighty then…)

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  8. Sam says:

    I started transcribing the text but damn, it’s Persian, not Arabic. There are one or two letters I don’t recognize :/ Wish I could have helped.

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  9. Laaaura says:

    That’s pretty hilarious. I hope this makes it on the show. That’s so random. And it’s interesting that they would photo shop his tie out.

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  10. becca says:

    They probably took out the tie to make the outfit more Ahmadinejad-y

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  11. SusieBlack says:

    Oh, translation please, I simply must know why Colbert was selected to point out ‘% upside down ho’.

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  12. Tiger says:

    do you all remembering seeing this in the Esquire from last year? they didn’t just get rid of the tie, but also an arrow sticking out of his forehead!

    this is sooooo amusing, and I lol’d.

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    • Hahaha! That’s the first thing I noticed when I saw that picture!

      reCAPTCHA: Houssin Live-

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    • Gaia Faye says:

      lol! They went to a lot of photoshopping trouble to use Stephen’s image.

      But having Stephen Colbert seemingly promote your merchandise is well worth the trouble, of course. ;)

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      • nick says:

        Nobody knows stephen colbert in iran. They are just lazy and stupid… Even the advertisement company doesn’t know him, if they did they didn’t do that…

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        • Gaia Faye says:

          Um, yeah, I’m aware they probably don’t know him. I was kidding around. You know, funny ha-ha?

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        • Blinda says:

          As far as I know, they have showtime in Iran (illigally) and love colbert and Jon Stewart programs! both are very famous in big cities in Iran.

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  13. vigwig says:

    Get Iranians get TCR via the web? Does TCR air in Iran? That would be really funny.

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  14. MaryLovesColbert says:

    Oh man, he should SO cover this on his show.

    And we need to get someone to translate that for us!!

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  15. wildlymissingthemark says:

    my husband is from iran and i have been there 4 times. i don’t speak the language very well. i wish i could go to tehran and have my pic taken next to this advertising. this is the absolute best to me! stephen is going to love this.

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    • ColbertGirl27 says:

      Your husband is from Iran! Can he translate this for us?!

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      • wildlymissingthemark says:

        the last pic says that “all new merchandise is 20% off.”

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  16. lulubelle says:

    There are a few guys from Iran where I work, so if no one else gets the translation, I’ll see what I can do tomorrow. I’m intrigued!!

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  17. Kambiz says:

    Translation Disclaimer: Been out of the country over 20 years, left when a teenager.
    The first picture: In large letters it says Maxim in Farsi and the second line says (roughly translated) Apparels of this generation and the next (exact would be: Apparel generation today….and tomorrow).

    Second Picture: First line is a polite word of greeting. Second line, Maxim is celebrating Nowrooz(Persian New Year)with a special 20% discount. next to Colbert picture: Special New Years Sale 20%. At bottom: For the first time to protect the (dear/valued) consumer and to break the prices, this years spring models are introduced with a 20% discount. last part repeats maxim apparels of this generation and the next.

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    • forsakinghalfloves says:

      Thanks for the translation!

      And call me weird, but I can almost imagine Stephen saying that slogan in his newsman’s baritone. :)

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    • lulubelle says:

      I love that Maxim thinks Stephen is the best representative for men’s fashion for this generation and the next. :)

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    • I see a possibility for a diplomatic opening here, if an American can be the symbol of fashion for Iranian men! Perhaps Stephen and Hillary can team up at last…

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  18. verbaltypo says:

    Hahha! this reminds me of the time someone found Jon Stewart’s image on something somewhere in Asia… does anyone remember where?

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  19. Hanif says:

    TRANSLATION:

    This is one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. Ok so the translation goes:

    “Maxim, clothes for the generation of today and tomorrow…”

    “For the first time, in order to support our dear consumers and break down prices, we are announcing a 20% discount on our Spring collection!”

    The discount rates are on account of Nowrooz, the traditional Persian new year which is really big in Iran (it will be on March 20th, matching up with the vernal equinox).

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    • ColbertGirl27 says:

      Thanks for the translation! March 20th is also the last day for the NASA voting! Coincidence?

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  20. vigwig says:

    Thanks for the translation. This is too funny, I wonder what motivated them to use the pix, esp. since the original image had an arrow in his forehead. Perhaps the graphic artist saw Colbert as the bridge between the “generation of today and tomorrow?”

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  21. jentaps says:

    I love that our Zoners came up strong with translational skills. How cool is that?!

    The whole thing is so funny.

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  22. Lucy says:

    Thanks for the photos and the translations; that is hilarious! Still, I can’t help but wonder if this clothing store (or the general populace in Iran) knows who Stephen Colbert is, or if they just picked what they thought was a random photo of a handsome man in a suit for their store display…

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  23. ColbertGirl27 says:

    I’m just amused that Maxim in Iran focuses on men’s clothing while Maxim here generally focuses on women wearing barely anything.

    recaptchas: eact Radcliffe (I know he’s a fan of TCR!)

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    • wildlymissingthemark says:

      well, they can’t really show women modeling clothing because of their strict islamic laws. even their shampoo commercials have men only, because you can’t show a woman’s head of hair. so you’ll see a guy doing his best selsen-blue for the camera:)

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      • Lucy says:

        I’d actually like to see Stephen do that– maybe they’ll “borrow” Stephen’s Starbucks shower footage…? (replacing the Starbucks coffee cup with a bottle of shampoo, of course) :-D

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  24. Goob says:

    Way to go on the scope and the plug tonight!

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  25. Goob says:

    And of course I type scope instead of scoop.

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  26. Kakpok says:

    My Persian translation abilities are limited but here I give a try:

    We pioneer, Maxim’s new year festival with 20% special rebate.

    For the first time to support our dear customers and to press down the prices. We offer you latest spring fashion with 20% rebate.

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  27. Khirad says:

    Thank god others did the translation – much more sophisticated versions of the bare bones I had. To think I had the dictionary pulled up and everything! Urdu skills will only get you so far in Farsi! I loved the Colbert bit including the haft sin and everything! Kudos for being mentioned! Norouz mubaarak!

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  28. Tristen says:

    The march is on and here comes heartache in the back stretch.

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