Who would ever imagine that two football legends and professional enemies would get together to shoot a Louis Vuitton campaign? An iconic image of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing chess on top of an LV suitcase took social media by storm on the eve of the World Cup on Saturday night. The image sent shock-waves across the world as fans and fashionistas unearth the message behind the sport’s arch enemies and the truth of how the internet-breaking image was made.
The battle between football legends to reign as king
The frenzy behind the image was clear; over the last decade both Messi and Ronaldo have been constantly battling it out for the Greatest Of All Time’s football player title. Equally good, equally influential, and equally loved or hated, depending on who you ask, the title has never been claimed.
And for the first time in history, the pair were portrayed together in a controversial move from Louis Vuitton to emphasize the pondering question of who will reign as King. As both players enter what might be their last FIFA World Cup and get close to the final stretch of their long reining sporting careers, they still have a few more tricks up their sleeves…
The strong message behind two GOATS in one room
Timing is everything, and LV knew this better than anyone. As one of the official Qatar World Cup 2022 sponsors, the fashion luxury powerhouse released its latest campaign with an internet-breaking image to mark the beginning of football’s most competitive trophy.
A luxury brand that came to dominate the fashion industry, by being one of the first to produce luxury traveling suitcases, the long history and powerful stance of LV Travel Bags is what made the brand rose to prominence and the power of what it is today.
In addition, Qatar is a destination city. A city with a name that millions of people around the globe associate with luxury, wealth, and traveling, which are the perfect three values that Qatar shares with LV and embodies as a fashion brand.
Moreover, what signified the importance of LV’s involvement with the world cup is that the official trophy would be transported, displayed, and delivered in a Louis Vuitton suitcase.
“Victory travels in Louis Vuitton”
The image of the football legends playing on top of an LV monogram-patterned suitcase can be seen as a strategic match for the play of power between Messi and Ronaldo to finally overtake as the Greatest of All Time.
As both are equally skilled, experienced, and awarded for their achievements, the strong message of “Victory is a State of Mind” behind the campaign displays that forward-thinking, intellectual strategic moves are the last alternative that would set them apart from a professional to a GOAT.
The picture was taken by American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz and created a whirlwind of frenzies questioning how much the brand had to pay to even get the two in the same room. Luckily for you, we have discovered the truth behind the image and can answer all your doubts.
The truth behind the photoshopped checkmate match
After the image was online for a few hours, behind-the-scenes footage followed suit and appeared to show that Messi and Ronaldo were never physically together in the same room for the campaign. In a video posted by Louis Vuitton on their social channels, which was later deleted, Leibovitz can be seen photographing both Messi and Ronaldo on separate occasions.
Behind the scenes of @LouisVuitton’s photo shoot by @annieleibovitz with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo pic.twitter.com/qz2eFMVdgr
— Luis Miguel Echegaray (@lmechegaray) November 20, 2022
Unfortunately, due to the conflicting schedules of both busy players, at no point were the greats seen together at the same time, which leave a viable solution that Photoshop was left to work its magic to complete the final image. Unless Louis Vuitton plans to reveal a second behind-the-scenes video to put all our theories to rest.
@mo____________________ Still a goated picture tho@risingballers #foryou#worldcup#messi #ronaldo #speed ♬ original sound – Mo
Currently, the photo is on course to be the most “liked” image of all time on Instagram, with Ronaldo’s post already having received in excess of 35 million likes. Collectively the football legends are playing to win and we wait in anticipation to see who would be the last king standing taking the LV bag home…
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