Hardly more than two weeks after its release, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat–an irreverent mockumentary about the United States–is swimming in money. As of yesterday night, the movie has grossed over $90 million domestically and $135 million worldwide.

Quite impressive for a new release.

Slightly less impressive are the ethical concerns regarding the way Cohen went about gathering his video footage. Two anonymous plaintiffs are suing Twentieth Century Fox–the distributor of the film–and One America Productions, claiming that members of their college fraternity were made to sign talent release forms while intoxicated.

As a result of the disreputable things they said on camera, they claim that they have suffered “humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community…” They claim that they would not have participated had they not been intoxicated or had they known that the movie would be released in the United States.

Similarly, the villagers of Glod, a remote village in Romania where Cohen filmed a part of his movie, have angrily accused him of exploiting them after learning that his film portrays them as a backward, incestuous group of people who engage in rape, abortion and prostitution.

The confluence of these and other lawsuits have made me not want to see this film. I don’t believe that one should trick or lie to people in order to get them to say stupid things in front of a camera.

Then again, it could be that I feel this way simply because I’m Polish.

Over the last week, a hilarious video clip has surfaced to the top of YouTube’s most-viewed videos. The video features a mayoral candidate for the Polish city of Bialystok. The candidate, Krzysztof Kononowicz, rambles about eliminating cigarettes, alcohol–everything! …and installing police on the streets because That’s what They’re for, That’s what They’re for–I repeat: That’s what They’re for! All while, he wears a disturbingly pathetic sweater whose replicas have since become a hot-selling commodity on eBay.

And yes, he is entirely serious.

Despite the popularity of the clip, Kononowicz lost the mayoral race. But his rambling tirade should serve as an inspiration to Cohen and other comedians looking to trick people in order to get them to say stupid things: all you really need is a camera and a Polish politician.