As Fourth of July celebrations began across the country, Mark Zuckerberg posted a video to his Instagram account that immediately generated hundreds of thousands of views. The clip seemed designed for warp-speed virality, indeed.
Behind a speeding boat, Mister Zuckerberg wakeboards in a tuxedo and sunglasses while sipping from a tall boy. The clip is set to Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 anthem “Born in the USA.” For the half-minute mark, the multibillionaire Meta CEO shows off his surfing technique.
“Awesome!” responded Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancée.
A gaming influencer, @StoneMountain64, wrote: “Now that's content.”
Mr. Zuckerberg responded, “I'm just doing my part.”
For Zuck-ologists, the clip was yet another example of the 40-year-old executive’s attempt to overhaul his image. In recent years, he’s morphed from a flip-flop-and-hoodie-wearing tech entrepreneur into a sleek, Richard Branson-esque figure who sports Brunello Cucinelli T-shirts and a silver chain and has dabbled in mixed martial arts.
As one commentator on X put it, “The PR team rehabbing Zuck continues their undefeated streak.”
The video was a sequel of sorts to a video Mr. Zuckerberg posted on July 4, 2021, that showed him aboard a moving hydrofoil 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 cowboy hat while grilling sausages. “Smoking this meat,” he wrote in a caption. “Happy 4th!” Last year’s post included a candid photo of Mr. Zuckerberg and his family.
If social media experts help Mr. Zuckerberg craft his posts, not much is known about them. Meta representatives have suggested that he does not rely on image consultants. A Meta representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the intention behind Mr. Zuckerberg’s patriotic content drops was to make him more relatable to the American public, despite his net worth of roughly $181 billion, according to Bloomberg, they appear to have helped. The online response to this year’s Fourth of July post was largely optimistic, a marked departure from the satirical memes that peppered his 2021 hydrofoil post.
But some online observers pointed out an odd note in the clip: the use of “Born in the USA.” Often misinterpreted as a rah-rah anthem, the song tells the story of a Vietnam War veteran who returns home and is welcomed by lonely people and dire circumstances.
Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who has long tried to set up a cage fight between Mr. Zuckerberg and his tech rival Elon Musk, responded to the video with a positive comment: “'MERICA!!!!!”
Mr. Musk had a different take on the matter, writing on X: “May he continue to have fun on his yachts. I'd rather work.”
