As the Fourth of July celebrations began across the country, Mark Zuckerberg dropped a video on his Instagram account that immediately garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Indeed, the clip seemed designed for warp-speed virality.
Behind a fast-moving boat, Mr. Zuckerberg wakes up wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses as he sips from a tall boy. The clip is set to Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 anthem “Born in the USA.” For half a minute of its duration, Meta’s multi-billionaire CEO shows off his surfing technique.
“Awesome!” commented Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancee.
One gaming influencer, @StoneMountain64, wrote: “Now that’s content.”
Mr Zuckerberg replied: “I’m just doing my duty.”
For Zuck-ologists, the clip was yet another example of the 40-year-old executive trying to rebuild his image. In recent years, he’s gone from flip-flop-and-hoodie-wearing tech entrepreneur to a sleeker, Richard Bransonesque figure who wears Brunello Cucinelli T-shirts, a silver chain and dabbled in mixed martial arts.
As one commentator at X put it, “The Zuck-rehabilitating PR team continues its undefeated streak.”
The video was a follow-up to a video Mr Zuckerberg posted on July 4, 2021. This showed him in an animated flying dolphin while carrying an American flag to the soundtrack of John Denver’s 1971 hit “Take Me Home, Country Roads”.
The following year he posted a photo of himself wearing an American flag hat as he grilled sausages. “Smoking these meats,” she captioned it. “Happy 4th!” Last year’s post featured a candid photo of Mr. Zuckerberg and his family.
If social media experts help Mr. Zuckerberg create his posts, then not much is known about them. Meta representatives have suggested that it does not depend on image consultants. A spokesman for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the intent behind Mr. Zuckerberg’s downbeat patriotic content was to make him more relevant to the American public, despite his net worth of about $181 billion, according to Bloomberg, it appears to have helped. The online response to this year’s July 4th post was largely upbeat, distinctly different from the satirical memes that fueled his hydrofoil post in 2021.
However, some online observers pointed out an off note in the clip: the use of “Born in the USA” which is often mistaken for a rah-rah anthem, the song tells the story of a Vietnam War veteran who returns home to a lonely welcome and tragic circumstances.
Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who has long sought to arrange a cage match between Mr Zuckerberg and his tech rival Elon Musk, reacted to the video with a positive comment: “’MERICA!! !!! “
Mr Musk took a different view, writing to X: “May he continue to have fun on his yachts. I prefer to work.”
