Those Richard Branson Ice Cubes Don’t Really Exist

Date: 2012.06.21 | Category: Travel | Tags:

Myth busted! Joe & I flew to and from London on Virgin Atlantic, the airline owned by flamboyant rich dude Sir Richard Branson. I had watched a segment on “The Colbert Report” a few weeks back about the special ice cubes depicting Branson’s head that had been developed for Virgin’s Upper Class cabin, or, as Colbert put it, “the glassy hollow eyes of the grinning goat man” looking back at you from the bottom of your drink. For some reason, I was totally fascinated by this story, and kept making reference to it on our flight to Heathrow (I hope it goes without saying that Joe & I were not, in fact, seated in Upper Class). “If only we had paid a few thousand dollars extra, I could totally be drinking a Pimm’s Cup chilled by a Richard Branson ice cube!”

On the flight back to the U.S., Joe offered to sneak into Upper Class to ask the bartender about the ice cubes. (Yes, Upper Class has a real, genuine bar.) I was sure there would be bouncers right behind the curtain, ready to toss out any non-Upper Class person who might deign to cross the threshold, but in fact he was able to approach without being Tasered. The bartender revealed that the Branson ice cubes don’t actually exist, though they are apparently an object of fascination (Joe was the second person that day to inquire about them). I assume they were nothing but a cool marketing gimmick to promote the revamped cabin.

According to its web site, Virgin does have some good deals on Upper Class — if you are willing to travel on certain days, a round trip from SFO to Heathrow can be had for $3100, which is pretty reasonable for a long haul flight in first class. But without Sir Richard’s frozen head cooling your cocktail, is it really worth it?