April Fool’s Day is known as one of the most cheerful holidays of the year. On this day, people usually play jokes on each other. An article on Akipress.kg is the best example of this. In an article (ru) that was published on April 1, Akipress says that one of the biggest food companies in the world “General Foods and Beverages” is conducting negotiations with the government of Kyrgyzstan to buy the right to use of the words “Manas” and “Kyrgyz” for 20 years. The company agrees to pay 6 billion for the right of using the words as brands outside Kyrgyzstan. They will pay 1 billion USD after the signing of the agreement and 250 million USD each year for the next 20 years. Migel Kostas Amato, representative of the company “General Foods and Beverages” says that they are going to open a network of fast-food restaurants in the developing markets of China, Russia, Brazil, etc. Their brand will be “Manas”. The “Manas” fast-food restaurants will serve people under the slogan “Food of Ancient Warriors”, where they will sell fast food like hamburgers and sausages with horse meat. Akipress also announces a “call-for-resumes” for people who are interested in working for the “General Foods and Beverages”.

I liked the joke very much. To tell the truth, I believed to it for a moment (or tried to believe). Then, remembering that it is April Fools Day, I very much regretted that it was just a joke. Some may say that it is a real “fools” joke, but I disagree. The author of the joke has a very good sense of humor. I think the joke reveals the real situation in Kyrgyzstan. The only values that people have now are their identity and “Manas”, a 1000 year old Kyrgyz epic. I guess the author tried to show that people are exchanging their values for money and power. Sad, but it is reality. Happy April Fool’s Day!