Sir Richard Branson called Sydney's FBi radio this morning in response to their "Ask Richard" campaign that aims to raise $1 million dollars for the beleaguered station.

The canny campaign was cooked up by the station in the face of financial hardship that threatens the stations future. The idea was to encourage members of the public to contact, harass or drape oneself naked on the millionaire businessman's back, in an effort to solicit money to go towards the stations coffers.

It worked. In part. Branson called the station this morning. According to a press release, Branson was encouraging, if diplomatic about the campaign.

He said: “Congratulations to FBi radio for running and truly inventive and original campaign. I’ve been amazed by the effort that your supporters have gone to and have had a great laugh at some of the very creative entries. Clearly FBi inspires great passion from its listeners and it’s worth saving. I’ll do my bit providing some prizes, but really it’s up to FBi’s listeners to show that they want the station to survive. So I say sign up and save FBi!.

Sir Richard revealed that he found out about the Ask Richard campaign when a young woman swam two and a half miles from a neighboring island in the Caribbean to tell him about FBi’s efforts. She ended up staying for dinner after walking in when Richard and his family were dining.

As part of today’s contact, Branson also offered FBi access to his senior management team from Virgin Management to help consult on future fundraising and sponsorship opportunities, to help the station raise their $1 million target. 

FBi’s Station Director, Meagan Loader commented: “FBi is chuffed that Sir Richard has responded to our Ask Richard campaign and pledged his support. Our listeners have gone to great lengths to grab his attention and it’s a great credit to them and our station community to achieve this outcome. We always thought Ask Richard was a campaign that would appeal to Sir Richard, and we sincerely appreciate his generosity in contributing to our fundraising campaign.”

To help FBi with the supporter drive, Branson offered the station  two tickets to LA and two tickets to the UK flying Virgin Atlantic , along with tickets to the upcoming V Festival in London, to use as a prize to encourage their listeners to become supporters and get behind the campaign to save the station.

Congratulations to the man. If someone swam two and a half miles to show up at my family's door asking for money to help a radio station, I'd be reaching for my shotgun before my wallet. 

Listeners are encouraged to sign up to www.fbiradio.com and donate $70 to go towards ongoing costs of the station. You can hear Branson's call at the stations website or on the video news item right here on TheVine.