On July 4, Mark Zuckerberg posted the perfect video of himself as a proud American, a reprise of one from 2022. Hydrofoiling, holding an American flag, and wearing a tux, he set the video to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” The video has it all. In 2022, he was in shorts, without the beer, and the song was John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Instagram comments look positive. Apparently, “Bro is the coolest billionaire CEO ever,” a “badass,” and “gangsta.” Some question whether AI generated the video, but others scoff at the idea.

Maybe Zuckerberg is shoring up his image after the many government hearings and social media criticism, or maybe the videos illustrate his political aspirations. Rumors around 2017 and 2020 had Zuckerberg running for president. He is decades younger and certainly more fit than our current candidates. Business communication students can guess his goals, but I’m filing this under Chapter 7 of the textbook, “persuasive messages.”