For laughs only. I heard about this from Andy Sernovitz, the only guy who says “this has got to be the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”
If you don’t know who Ali G is, this bit is a total put on. He’s an actor–the guy who did the movie Borat a couple years ago, and is currently posing as Bruno. The other people in the video, including Donald Trump, don’t know it’s a put on.
For a serious discussion of lessons embedded in Ali G’s charade, check out the O’Reilley blog post, Is Your Prodcut an Ice-Cream Glove or a Snuggie. If you’re in the mood for more reading, follow the links in that post for “lean startups” and “customer development” and anything by Stanford professor Steve Blank–new ideas coming from entrepreneur thought leaders. I’ll blog about these ideas myself at some point.