BACKCHAT readers excited by the thought of trying out Virgin Atlantic’s new double beds are in for a treat.
Not only will they be able to snuggle up to their loved ones, join the mile-high club legitimately and get a good night’s rest. They have also been promised a very exciting bonus – a bear.
Not just any old scruffy, fluffy, bear, but a real cuddly number.
Chairman Richard Branson unveiled, literally, the happy bed fellow at the launch last week.
“We want you to enjoy these beds but to help you sleep better, we will be giving everyone a bear,” he said.
And with that he threw back the duvet to reveal his bear bed-mate – blonde stunner and one time TV presenter Dani Behr.
Big cheers erupted all round with the stampede of photographers snapping the couple.
Taking up a John and Yoko pose, Richard and Dani then cuddled, kissed and generally canoodled for the press. Even Branson’s half-hearted cries of: “Don’t let my wife see this”, were drowned out by the scrum.
“Kiss him Dani”, “Head up Richard” and “Smile”, the Fleet Street posse cried, as Backchat jumped up and down to get a look.
If all this madness was not enough, Branson then climbed into a hoist to smash a champagne bottle on the new livery of a jumbo. The bottle smashed on the image of a Union Flag waving Flying Lady, – and just below it the words Britain’s flag carrier. Compare and contrast this mayhem with when bitter rival British Airways unveiled its Club World beds recently.
All done in the best possible taste at a City institution with no TV stars, no Bob Ayling in fancy dress and no hoards of snappers.
Meanwhile, Branson is not the only Virgin executive seen showing off a new toy last week.
Commercial director Paul Griffiths has recently been seen burning up the countryside in Sussex on a super-loud motorbike.
And how exactly did he get his hands on the 500cc Yamaha?
Those nice people who produced Virgin’s latest TV ad, that’s who.
Griffiths tells Backchat: “I am often seen shooting over the Sussex Downs on the machine.”
With a bit of imagination, he could indeed look like that handsome chap racing over the fields to the sounds of The Osmonds’ Crazy Horses. Waaahhh, waaahhh!