Louis Vuitton pairs up Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in latest chess campaign

Louis Vuitton’s latest advertisement has drawn mixed reactions as it features football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi upon the commencement of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Captured by American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz, the campaign was unveiled one day before the World Cup kicked off, where Ronaldo and Messi were seen playing chess on a Louis Vuitton briefcase. 

"Victory is a State of Mind. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi captured by Annie Leibovitz for Louis Vuitton. In addition to a long tradition of crafting trunks for the world’s most coveted sporting trophies, the Maison celebrates two of the most talented football players today," said a statement on the brand's LinkedIn. 

The release of the creative ad has immediately attracted discussions across social platforms, with some saying that the ad requires lots of running around the board to get into the position and the two footballers also had to accommodate for the weird suitcase chessboard, "Admirable dedication to the game!" Meanwhile, some were claiming that both Argentina and Portugal have really strong teams coming into the World Cup, "It would make for a wonderful story if both these legends were to meet in the final," a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on LinkedIn.  

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Louis Vuitton for further information.

Ronaldo and Messi shared the image on their social media accounts, along with the caption: "Victory is a State of Mind. A long tradition of crafting trunks." A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw Ronaldo’s post has received over 35 million likes on his Instagram in one day.

Louis Vuitton is not the only brand that thinks out-of-the-box for the promotion of this year's World Cup. Most recently, Nike's latest campaign ad Footballverse, has used computer graphics to pit new football stars who are playing in the upcoming tournament against legendary football players to determine who the better footballer is using computer graphics.

Starring French player and PSG star Kylian Mbappe, Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and other legends including Virgil van Dijk and Edgar Davids, the ad aims to show that every generation of athletes makes a unique footprint on the game, expands the sport, and inspires future generations to leave their mark.

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