YMMV / Jetlag Travel Guides

• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • The Spin-Off Molvanîan Baby Names describes names given to Molvanîan children, like Agpovertetnyk (meaning "lowly paid foreign worker"), Dburjoffynd ("repeat offender") and Dkurtiklof ("exceptionally unfit"). In Slavic countries, names with meanings like that were not too uncommon in the old times, because a beautiful name was considered to be Tempting Fate by drawing demonic attention. The surname Nekrasov, coming from the name meaning "The Unsightly One", is still common enough in Russia.
  • A passage in the guide on Phaic Tăn refers to a time when a superstitious ruler replaced all of the banknotes because of numerology. This is based on a very real (and, if anything, even weirder) act of demonetisation in then-Burma, when the 50- and 100-kyat notes were demonetised and replaced by a 75-kyat note (ostensibly to celebrate the dictator's 75th birthday), with 15- and 35-kyat notes being introduced the next year; the year after that, the 15-, 25-, and 75-kyat notes were demonetised without compensation and replaced with 45- and 90-kyat notes, leading to serious economic disruption, civil unrest, and a coup
• Cliché Storm: Every cliché about Ruritania and Banana Republics are Played for Laughs and exaggerated. The books still manage to be absolutely hilarious.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Happens very often. Jokes of this type usually relate to poverty and international aid. For instance, in Phaic Tăn, there is a relief agency for struggling relief agencies, called "Aid Aid", and an agency which replants disabled landmines.
• Even Better Sequel: While Molvanîa is the most fondly remembered, the rest of the guides are longer, have better quality paper, use a lot more pictures, have more main contributors aside from Philippe and more "special offers", making them an overall improvement of the formula. The fact that they were written in one or two years, as opposed to Molvanîa's lengthier developement, is also impressive.
• Second Verse Curse: Enforced In-Universe, as the third stanza of Molvanîa's anthem contains references to killing gypsies.
• Squick: Each book name-drops a staggering number of infectious diseases, not to mention all of the jokes about smell.
• Values Dissonance: The books have been criticized for promoting racial stereotypes. Former UK Minister for Europe Keith Vaz has accused Molvanîa of exploiting prejudices, calling it "cheeky".
  • Appears In-Universe as well. Many of the values of the countries portrayed can seem backwards or outdated to those in the west. Examples would include Molvanîans' racism towards gypsies, the lack of a word for "no" in Phaic Tănese, in order to save face, and the normalization of constant fighting and coups in San Sombrèro.