Richard Branson’s Caribbean kitesurfing trip with Barack Obama secured his Virgin business empire millions of dollars in free publicity, brand experts have estimated.



On Tuesday, the British tycoon released the first pictures of the former president since he was helicoptered out of Washington DC on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration. Still and video images showed the two men enjoying water sports just off Branson’s private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands and play-fighting on his boat. The businessman posted the exclusive pictures on Virgin’s corporate website.

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Some members of the public expressed distaste at seeing Obama cavorting in the Caribbean with a billionaire businessman at a time when many Americans are racked with worry about the direction Trump’s White House is taking.

“Barack! Get back here - we need you!” posted one person on Branson’s Facebook page.

Another wrote: “Much easier to be on that boat than helping the poor black American in Chicago, no same old story, Democrat with elites and they say they are on the side of the little people, hypocrites.”

The images of Branson challenging Obama to a kitesurfing contest were viewed around the world as the former capitalised on a huge publicity coup by blogging about Obama’s holiday and repeatedly sharing images of their day on the water on his personal Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.



On Tuesday afternoon alone, Branson posted on Twitter links to the video five times, generating 6,000 retweets. His Facebook post with a picture of his playfight with Obama was shared more than 2,000 times. The original post on Virgin’s corporate website was shared more than 37,000 times. Branson’s photo of a beaming Obama on Instagram attracted almost a quarter of a million views.

For all those irritated by Obama’s holiday pictures, there were at least as many who said he deserved his holiday and wished him well.



Branson had posted a blog on Virgin’s website titled Richard vs Barack kiteboard and foilboard challenge. Branson rents out Moskito Island, where the Obamas stayed as his guests, and he made sure to promote the facilities alongside his pictures of Obama, saying “we have the perfect conditions and team to help anyone learn [to kitesurf]”.

“Barack started learning to kitesurf on the beach on Necker for two days solid, picking up the basics and flying a kite as if going back to being a child again,” Branson wrote. “Being the former president of America, there was lots of security around, but Barack was able to really relax and get into it.”

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Apart from some blurry long-lens shots of Obama in a car in Palm Springs and on the airport tarmac preparing to leave the British Virgin Islands last week, Branson’s images, taken by Jack Brockway, a photographer who has previously done corporate work for Virgin Galactic, were the first of the president since he left office.

“Branson always has a very strategic and clever way of exploiting publicity,” said Mark Borkowski, a London-based PR consultant who has written a book about the art of publicity stunts. “This is a money-can’t-buy publicity opportunity worth millions. It has been reported all over the free world and these are the first pictures since we saw him get in that helicopter and head away from the chaos left behind.”

Borkowski said Obama embodied “change, modernity, dignity and style” and “all that is great for Virgin values – they might not be winners all the time but they stand for principles”.

“I am very curious about what Branson and Obama will be doing next,” he said. “It poses a lot more questions than it answers.”

Branson gave one clue at the end of his blog.

“Now he has left, I’m going back into the water to practice for the next challenge,” he wrote. “On his next visit, we plan to do the long kite over to Anegada [an island about 12 miles from Necker] together. Next time, may the best (British) man win!”