Decoding the “Photo of the Century”: Memetic Communication and Meaning-making in Sports Communication

2.1. Features of Visual Communication

The most widespread form of non-verbal communication on the Internet is visual communication, primarily based on the transmission of characters and images through which individuals today present themselves to the surrounding communicative environment (Melkonyan & Karapetyan, 2019, pp. 29–36). Modern individuals are constantly surrounded by various sign systems. Today, numerous interpretations exist regarding the visualization of public life. In professional literature, the sharp increase in non-verbal communication driven by Internet technologies is often referred to as a visual revolution. The Canadian philosopher and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan was the first to discuss visual culture as the foundation of the information society in his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (McLuhan, 2003, pp. 55–61). However, attempts to interpret the visualization of social actions and processes at the macro-sociological level remain neither unambiguous nor fully consolidated. The increasing role and significance of visual components in the lifestyle of contemporary society has become one of the pressing subjects of sociological inquiry.

According to Marshall McLuhan’s well-known saying, the medium of communication largely determines the nature and the content of communication. In the case of the Internet, this statement is also true (McLuhan, 2003, pp. 55–61). The Internet as a means of mass communication of the new generation has introduced unique characteristics to the media environment.

The growing significance of visual communication has also contributed to the emergence of new forms of symbolic interaction, among which Internet memes occupy a particularly important place.

2.2. Memes: A Modern Form of Visual Communication

Today, visual characters are widely used in Internet communication alongside textual information. The phenomenon of the spontaneous reproduction of textual and visual content is referred to in the literature as a meme (Barthes, 1994). The concept of the “meme” was first introduced by the English biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Relying on a reductionist approach, Dawkins argues that a meme, like a gene, is a unit of information transmission and storage, with the distinction that the functional domain of the meme is culture. Both the gene and the meme are replicators–entities capable of copying and reproducing themselves. Memes are spread from person to person and from generation to generation (Dawkins, 1976).

In other words, a meme constitutes a fundamental unit of cultural information transfer. When examined within a semiotic framework, the concept of the “meme” may be interpreted as a modern form of myth. Roland Barthes defines myth as “a system of communication expressing a certain idea.” According to Barthes, myth subsequently transforms into symbols and acquires form (1994). Another perspective on memes – the linguistic approach – defines a meme as a stereotyped, widely recognized phrase or a replicated fragment of dialogue. From this standpoint, key features of memes include humor, emotional resonance, and the complementary interplay of verbal and non-verbal elements.

The Internet functions as a communicative environment for storing and transmitting information. Accordingly, the primary purpose of Internet memes may be understood as facilitating communication and transforming information in various ways.

Scholars conceptualize Internet memes as cultural replicators that spread primarily through imitation rather than direct transmission. Building on Dawkins’ original definition, memes are understood as ideas, concepts, or symbolic units that require human hosts to reproduce and circulate (Dawkins, 1976). Unlike genetic replication, which operates through vertical transmission from one generation to the next, memetic transmission is capable of both vertical and horizontal dissemination. Vertical transmission refers to the intergenerational transfer of cultural information, such as traditions, myths, or long-standing belief systems, whereas horizontal transmission occurs within the same generation and is based on imitation, repetition, and social interaction (Blackmore, 1999).

In the context of digital culture, scholars emphasize that Internet memes rely predominantly on horizontal transmission, which allows them to spread rapidly across communication platforms while undergoing frequent modification. Because each act of imitation may alter the original message, memetic reproduction is characterized by lower copying fidelity but higher adaptability. Heylighen and Chielens argue that this process resembles a Lamarckian model of cultural evolution since acquired modifications are not only preserved but can also be immediately redistributed within the same population (Heylighen & Chielens, 2008, as cited in Buchel, 2012).

From this perspective, mutation is not a deviation but a defining characteristic of memes. Changes introduced during imitation enable memes to adapt to new communicative environments, increasing their chances of survival and circulation. At the same time, memetic selection ensures that only those memes that are sufficiently memorable, emotionally engaging, or culturally resonant are retained and further disseminated (Buchel, 2012). Thus, successful Internet memes maintain a recognizable core idea while allowing surface-level variation, which enables efficient transmission across diverse social and cultural contexts.

Contemporary scholarship increasingly approaches Internet memes not as isolated cultural units, but as groups of texts and images that form recognizable genres. Limor Shifman argues that the transformation of memes in digital culture has shifted their status from singular communicative artifacts to collections of related visual and textual variations, which circulate simultaneously within participatory media environments (Shifman, 2014, pp. 341–343).

From this perspective, meme genres function as cultural frameworks that structure both production and interpretation. Rather than focusing solely on novelty, Shifman emphasizes the importance of salience, arguing that digital media foreground particular visual and narrative patterns that become socially recognizable and reproducible. Meme genres thus operate as “horizons of expectation” for users, guiding how images are created, modified, and decoded within specific cultural contexts (Shifman, 2014, p. 342–344).

Shifman identifies photo-based memes as one of the most prominent meme genres in contemporary digital culture. These memes rely on photographs as their primary semiotic resource, but their meaning emerges through recontextualization, repetition, and performative variation rather than through the photograph’s original documentary function. In this sense, photographs increasingly serve as raw material for further symbolic production, rather than as fixed representations of reality (Shifman, 2014, pp. 34–344).

Within photo-based meme genres, Shifman distinguishes several dominant forms, including reaction photos, stock character macros, and staged photo fads. Despite their formal differences, these genres share three key cultural logics: hypersignification, prospective orientation, and operability. Hypersignification refers to the accumulation of layered meanings within a single image; prospective orientation invites users to imagine future iterations of the meme; and operability encourages active user participation through imitation and modification (Shifman, 2014, pp. 344–346).

The transformation of Internet memes into influential communicative phenomena has also encouraged scholars to examine their role beyond cultural replication, particularly in relation to public events, digital participation, and platform-specific communication environments.

2.3. Internet Memes as Event-Based, Discursive, and Platform-Conditioned Visual Texts

Beyond their role as cultural replicators and semiotic units, Internet memes increasingly function as mechanisms of event-based communication. In this sense, memes do not merely circulate meanings retrospectively but actively participate in the construction, anticipation, and amplification of public events. Dayan and Katz’s concept of “media events” defines such moments as ceremonially framed, interruptive, and collectively experienced occurrences that temporarily reorganize public attention (Dayan & Katz, 1992). While originally formulated in relation to broadcast media, this framework has been extended to digital environments, where visual content plays a central role in synchronizing global audiences.

In contemporary digital culture, memes frequently operate as pre-event and para-event communicative forms. They circulate prior to major social, political, or cultural events, shaping expectations and symbolic interpretations in advance. As Couldry argues, media rituals are not limited to institutionalized ceremonies but emerge through repetitive symbolic practices that invite collective participation and shared meaning making (Couldry, 2003, pp. 45–52). Within social media ecosystems, memes function as such rituals by offering audiences a recognizable visual framework through which upcoming events are interpreted and emotionally processed. From this perspective, high-profile visual memes related to any kind of competition can be understood as instruments of symbolic anticipation. Rather than documenting an event, they contribute to its cultural staging.

2.4. Internet Memes in Sports Communication: the Discursive Management of Rivalry and Platform Logic

Sport is symbolically represented through a cultural text that encompasses social and political values. The language of sport constitutes an important component of the broader communication system. However, most interpretive research in sports communication focuses predominantly on social and political contexts, often overlooking the ideological layers that underlie them or exist at deeper structural levels. This indicates that comparatively little attention has been devoted to the communicative mechanisms of the sports text itself. While no text can be fully separated from its contextual determinants, the process of interpreting and making meaning from symbols remains an equally significant dimension in the study of sports communication.

Another dimension insufficiently addressed in traditional meme theory is the role of memes in managing social antagonism and symbolic rivalry. Sports communication is deeply intertwined with narratives of competition, opposition, and identity construction. Giulianotti emphasizes that modern sport functions as a key site for the production of collective identities and symbolic boundaries, particularly through rivalries that extend beyond athletic performance into cultural and ideological domains (Giulianotti, 1999).

In this context, memes can be understood as discursive tools that regulate rivalry by reframing antagonism in culturally acceptable forms. Billig’s concept of “banal nationalism” illustrates how everyday symbolic practices normalize collective identities without overt conflict (Billig, 1995, pp. 6–9). Similarly, sport-related memes often soften antagonistic narratives by embedding them within humor, metaphor, or aesthetic stylization. Rather than escalating conflict, such memes enable audiences to engage with rivalry as a shared cultural performance.

Sandvoss notes that contemporary sports fandom increasingly emphasizes reflexive identification, where fans negotiate emotional investment through mediated narratives rather than direct opposition (Sandvoss, 2003). Within this logic, the meme functions as a visual compromise: it preserves the rivalry narrative while rendering it controlled, civilized, and aesthetically elevated.

The circulation and interpretation of Internet memes cannot be fully understood without considering the platform-specific conditions under which they emerge. Social media platforms are not neutral channels of transmission but actively shape visibility, engagement, and meaning-making through algorithmic governance. Van Dijck argues that digital platforms structure social interaction by prioritizing particular forms of content based on connectivity, popularity, and affective engagement (van Dijck & Poell, 2013).

Instagram, as a visually oriented platform, privileges high-contrast, minimalist, and emotionally resonant imagery. Bucher notes that algorithmic systems reward content that generates rapid engagement, thereby amplifying images that align with platform aesthetics and user expectations (Bucher, 2018). Within this environment, celebrity presence, visual simplicity, and symbolic density significantly enhance circulation potential.

The success of sport-related memes must therefore be interpreted in relation to platform logic. Visual composition, celebrity visibility, and symbolic density operate together to produce content that is both highly interpretable and highly shareable. Furthermore, Abidin emphasizes that celebrity-driven visibility operates through “calibrated authenticity,” where images appear spontaneous while being strategically curated (Abidin, 2018). As a result, audience interaction with memes is not solely a matter of symbolic decoding but also of platform-conditioned participation. Likes, shares, and reposts function as performative acts that reinforce collective interpretation and contribute to algorithmic amplification.

Contemporary scholarship suggests that Internet memes should not be understood solely according to their origin, but according to their communicative trajectory. While many memes originate as user-generated content, professionally produced images may also evolve into Internet memes when they become objects of widespread imitation, modification, and participatory circulation. In such cases, the original image no longer functions exclusively as a commercial or documentary photograph but also as a shared cultural template through which new meanings are continuously produced.

From an audience-reception perspective, meaning is not only produced solely through the visual structure of a media text but also through the process by which audiences decode and interpret it. Hall’s encoding/decoding model emphasizes that meanings encoded within media texts are not necessarily reproduced identically at the point of reception; audiences interpret messages through culturally and socially available codes and may produce dominant, negotiated, or oppositional readings (Hall, 1980). Audience reception analysis therefore makes it possible to move beyond the examination of encoded visual meanings and investigate how those meanings are interpreted and negotiated by different audience groups.

Although Simsek and Bozdag (2024) demonstrated how the photograph generates meaning through visual social semiotic resources and Instagram engagement, they did not examine how audiences interpret these meanings. The present study addresses this gap by integrating semiotic analysis with audience reception analysis to investigate how different audience groups decode the symbolic meanings embedded in the image.

3.1. Research Design

The present study employs a qualitative interpretive research design combining visual semiotic analysis, linguistic content analysis, and audience reception analysis through focus group discussions. The methodological framework was selected in accordance with the complex nature of Internet memes as simultaneously visual, textual, symbolic, and platform-conditioned communicative forms.

The object of the study is the communicative transformation of Annie Leibovitz’s Messi–Ronaldo chess photograph from a professionally produced advertising image toward memetic circulation within contemporary sports communication. The analysis focuses on the original photograph, its public circulation, selected meme-related reinterpretations, and audience responses to the symbolic meanings generated by the image.

The analysis therefore distinguishes between the original advertising photograph and its subsequent digital circulation, examining how the image was recontextualized, modified, and interpreted within participatory digital culture. Particular attention is devoted to the interaction between visual and textual symbols, the construction of ideological meanings, and the ways audiences interpret and decode these meanings within digital culture.

The research proceeded through five analytically connected stages. First, the case was selected and contextualized in relation to its publication, circulation, and sporting and cultural significance. Second, the original photograph was examined through visual semiotic analysis. Third, the photograph’s subsequent memetic circulation and selected derivative reinterpretations were considered as contextual evidence of its modification and recontextualization in digital culture. Fourth, focus group discussions were used to examine audience reception of the symbolic meanings identified through the analysis. Finally, the findings were interpretatively integrated to identify convergent, complementary, and divergent patterns.

3.2. Case Selection and Context

The empirical focus of this study is Annie Leibovitz’s photograph, published on November 19, 2022, depicting long-standing football rivals Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain and Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United playing chess atop a Louis Vuitton checkered suitcase (Figure 1). The photograph was selected as a single qualitative case because of its exceptional global visibility, extensive media coverage, and widespread circulation across digital platforms, where it generated numerous reinterpretations and meme variations. These characteristics make it an appropriate case for examining symbolic meaning-making and audience interpretation within contemporary digital sports communication.

Figure 1

Source: Louis Vuitton (2022), “Victory is a State of Mind” campaign. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

The study does not seek to generalize conclusions to all forms of Internet memes in sports communication. Instead, it adopts an in-depth qualitative case study approach to explore how symbolic meanings are constructed, circulated, and interpreted through a globally recognized sport-related visual artifact.

The photograph attracted extraordinary public attention and rapidly achieved widespread visibility across social media (Euronews, 2022; International Olympic Committee, 2022; ESPN, 2022).

Within just 1 day, it became the second most-liked image in the history of Instagram. Following its publication, however, the photograph circulated beyond its original advertising context and became subject to extensive participatory modification and recontextualization. Know Your Meme, an online repository documenting the development and circulation of Internet memes, records the image as “Messi and Ronaldo Playing Chess” and traces the emergence of photoshopped and recontextualized variations shortly after the original publication (Know Your Meme, 2022). The documented adaptations include modifications of the figures and surrounding visual elements, as well as the reuse of the original composition in new contexts. These forms of imitation, modification, and participatory appropriation correspond to the characteristics of Internet meme circulation discussed by Shifman (2014). Accordingly, the present study distinguishes between the original professionally produced advertising photograph and its subsequent memetic circulation, rather than treating virality alone as evidence of meme status.

The broader media discourse surrounding the photograph provides additional context for its subsequent interpretation and circulation. Published immediately before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the image brought together two athletes whose long-standing rivalry had become one of the defining narratives of contemporary football. Media coverage emphasized the unusual visual construction of the two footballers engaged in a contemplative game of chess rather than the sport for which they are known, interpreting this juxtaposition as part of Louis Vuitton’s broader campaign strategy (Euronews, 2022; Olympics.com, 2022).

Commentators also drew attention to specific elements of the photograph that contributed to its symbolic complexity. The arrangement of the chess pieces reproduces a position from a 2017 game between grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura (Chess.com, 2022). The Louis Vuitton trunk on which the chessboard is positioned also carries an established association with the FIFA World Cup, having been used in connection with the presentation of the tournament trophy (Euronews, 2022). These contextual elements contributed to interpretations linking the photograph with elite competition, strategy, prestige, luxury, and the unresolved Messi–Ronaldo rivalry.

Such media and public interpretations are treated in the present study as contextual background rather than as a systematically analyzed empirical corpus. They provide relevant cultural context for the subsequent semiotic and audience-reception analyses but are not presented as original findings of the study.

3.3. Semiotic and Visual Analysis

The first stage of the research focused on the semiotic and structural analysis of the original photograph. The analysis relied primarily on Barthes’ theory of myth, Saussurean structural linguistics, and Stöckl’s image–text relationship model. Barthes’ framework was used to distinguish between the denotative elements of the photograph and the broader cultural and ideological meanings attached to them. Saussurean structural linguistics informed the analysis of how individual signs acquire meaning through their relationships and contrasts within the overall visual composition. Stöckl’s model complemented these approaches by providing a framework for examining the spatial and compositional relationships between visual elements (2020, pp. 19–41). Through comparing and contrasting the visual and linguistic symbols present, the core messages of the photograph become evident – yet these messages are often distorted or transformed across different media platforms.

Particular attention was paid to:

• visual composition and hierarchy;

• symbolic density;

• gestures, posture, and facial expressions;

• representations of rivalry, prestige, luxury, and strategic competition;

• interaction between sport-related and nonsport symbolic codes;

• relationships between visual and linguistic elements.

The purpose of this stage was to identify how meanings are encoded visually and how the original sport-related narrative is transformed into a broader symbolic and cultural text.

3.4. Focus Group Discussions and Audience Reception Analysis

The fourth stage of the study examined audience interpretation and decoding practices through two semistructured focus group discussions.

A total of 20 participants aged 16–25 participated in the study. Focus Group 1 included 11 participants actively engaged in sports, while Focus Group 2 included 9 participants not professionally involved in sports. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling.

The selected age category was determined by the fact that individuals aged 16–25 represent one of the most active groups in meme production, circulation, and consumption within digital culture. This demographic also demonstrates high levels of engagement with sports communication, celebrity culture, and participatory social media practices.

The discussions lasted approximately 90 min and were conducted in an educational setting. Participants were shown the original image and invited to discuss their emotional reactions, symbolic interpretations, perceptions of rivalry and competition, and their understanding of the broader communicative messages embedded in the photograph.

The study was conducted in Yerevan, Armenia. Purposive recruitment was carried out through announcements posted on the social media pages of sports schools, the physical culture institute, general schools, colleges, and universities. Active sports engagement was operationalized as enrolment in a sports school or physical culture institute, or regular participation in organized sports training. The sport-engaged group included six male and five female participants, while the comparison group included four male and five female participants.

Participants were eligible if they were aged 16–25 years and belonged to one of these two comparison groups. Individuals outside the specified age range were excluded from participation. Active sports engagement was operationalized as enrolment in a sports school or physical culture institute, or regular participation in organized sports training. The sport-engaged group included six male and five female participants, while the comparison group included four male and five female participants. Participants represented different educational and occupational backgrounds within the selected age group.

The focus group discussions were conducted in Armenian and audio-recorded with participants’ written consent. Recordings were subsequently transcribed by a research assistant. The semistructured discussion guide addressed participants’ initial reactions to the photograph; interpretations of its principal visual symbols; perceptions of rivalry, competition, and mutual respect; interpretations of the relationship between football, chess, luxury, and the Louis Vuitton brand; and participants’ previous encounters with and responses to the original image and its derivative versions. Follow-up questions were used to clarify responses and explore alternative or contrasting interpretations.

The discussions were subsequently analyzed to identify recurring interpretive patterns and culturally shared symbolic codes through which participants decoded the visual message.

3.5. Methodological Reliability and Research Limitations

Given the interpretive nature of qualitative visual analysis, the study prioritizes analytical transparency and methodological triangulation rather than statistical generalization.

The credibility of the research was strengthened through theoretical triangulation, combining semiotics, symbolic interactionism, visual communication theory, and sports communication perspectives. Methodological triangulation was achieved through the integration of visual analysis and focus group discussions, allowing the findings of one method to be considered alongside those of another.

Visual semiotic analysis was used to identify denotative and connotative meanings within the photograph, while linguistic content analysis examined recurrent labels, metaphors, and evaluative narratives in the selected meme-related and media materials. These findings subsequently informed the audience reception analysis, which examined how participants recognized, negotiated, or challenged the meanings identified during the preceding analytical stages. The findings from the different analytical components were then compared to identify areas of convergence, complementarity, and divergence.

Two researchers independently coded the focus group transcripts using a combination of theory-driven and emergent categories. Theory-driven categories were informed by the semiotic and conceptual framework of the study, while emergent categories were developed from recurring patterns identified in participants’ responses. Coding disagreements were discussed by the two researchers and resolved through consensus. The research assistant responsible for transcription was not involved in coding or interpretation.

Data were considered sufficient when interpretive patterns recurred across the two focus groups without producing substantially new analytical categories. To reduce the influence of researcher subjectivity, the study employed independent coding, documentation of analytical decisions, comparison between the two participant groups, and comparison of findings across the different analytical methods.

The study does not seek to generalize conclusions to all forms of Internet memes in sports communication. Rather, it offers an in-depth qualitative case study demonstrating how a globally circulating sport-related visual artifact functions as a symbolic text and communicative phenomenon within contemporary digital culture.

3.6. Ethical Safeguards

Participation was voluntary, and written informed consent was obtained for participation, audio recording, and the use of anonymized quotations. For participants under 18 years, written parental or legal guardian consent and participant assent were obtained. Formal institutional ethics approval was not required under the applicable institutional procedures; therefore, no approval number was issued. All transcripts were anonymized, identifying information was removed, and consent forms, recordings, and transcripts were stored securely with access restricted to the research team.

4.1. Semiotic Analysis of the Photograph

The campaign generated exceptionally high levels of social media engagement. According to Launchmetrics data reported by Diderich (2022), the campaign generated an estimated US$13.5 million in media impact value, with Ronaldo’s Instagram post accounting for approximately US$2.8 million, Messi’s post for US$2.6 million, and Louis Vuitton’s post for US$1.1 million. MIV represents an estimated monetary value assigned to media exposure and engagement rather than direct revenue earned by Louis Vuitton (Diderich, 2022).

If we attempt to distinguish the various sport-related (such as athletes, competition, victory) and nonsport (such as luxury, fashion, or branding) symbols present in the visual image and examine the meaning of each symbolic unit individually, the underlying ideological connotations become more apparent. Semiotic analysis makes these ideological meanings visible and, where possible, offers an alternative reading of the mediated sports text.

The photograph may be interpreted through Barthes’s structuralist framework. In the image, the Louis Vuitton suitcase is endowed with heightened symbolic significance. Visual references to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia indicate that this same Louis Vuitton bag was used for presenting the World Cup trophy before both the opening match and the final in Moscow, thereby adding an additional layer of symbolism to the viral photograph.

From a commercial and artistic perspective, the fashion narrative embedded in the image makes clear that Louis Vuitton seeks to highlight its association with impressive luxury, refined craftsmanship, and artistic excellence to reinforce the brand’s value and prestige. At the same time, the brand employs sport and notions of freedom as common denominators of its narrative. In other words, the fashion story – circulated as a media artifact – forms part of a broader marketing communication strategy that demonstrates the methods and direction through which the brand’s goals are presented, and how the brand history is corrected, reframed, or guided across communication platforms.

On one level, the image represents football as a prestigious sport, symbolically elevated to the level of chess (haute couture). On another level, it conveys that the Louis Vuitton brand is worthy of champions – worthy of the very best. Thus, we may also observe that the chess match is staged less as a sport and more as a theatrical performance. The audience’s attention is drawn primarily to the heightened emotions performed by the football players, expressed through their gestures, facial expressions, and bodily movements. Chess becomes a form of drama that foregrounds emotion and attitude through exaggerated corporeal signs.

The game functions as a ritual in which the audience expects to witness a symbolic struggle enacted by the protagonists. What matters is not the realistic individuality of the characters, but rather the production of ideas, values, and attitudes situated within the intertwined contexts of sport and politics.

Movements, gestures, and expressions shown in the game of chess are forms of coded communication through signs that are demonstratively used by football players. The grin, the smile, gestures, and ways of moving are all index signs denoting great success, revenge, struggle. Giving clearly legible meanings to the struggle taking place between the positions presented by the football players, Leibovitz presents the chess game as a system of coded signs, a visual event where an overly theatrical and controlled version of reality is presented without ambiguity.

It is also interesting to examine the photograph from the perspective of Saussure’s structural linguistics. The founder of structural linguistics maintains that words and concepts acquire meaning through their relationships and contrasts with other elements within the same cultural system (Saussure, 2004). Leibovitz’s photograph similarly possesses a compositional structure. Moreover, following the logic of structural linguistics, the meaning of the photograph depends on the audience’s interpretive competence and is understood through the effectiveness of its overall structural composition.

Leibovitz’s photograph acquires its uniqueness through several structural components of the visual – such as its treatment of sexuality, tonal qualities, focal arrangement, and use of color. The neutral, unfurnished background and muted palette, along with the minimalistic clothing that adds an organic touch, are particularly noteworthy. When this image is regarded as a distinctive means of organizing Internet communication – one directed toward visual perception and intended to describe or interpret particular situations in social reality – several interesting manifestations emerge. The photograph has been interpreted within political contexts, adapted for various situations, and transformed into humorous videos accompanied by textual expressions (Melkumyan, 2020, pp. 3–11).

4.2. Audience Perception of the Photograph and its Meme Variations

In the fourth stage of the research, audience reception of the photograph and its derivative variations was examined through two focus group discussions. Participants in both groups were familiar with the image and its circulation on social media, with several reporting that they had shared, liked, or discussed it online.

The focus group transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis using a combination of theory-informed and emergent coding. Initial codes were identified independently in the two discussions and subsequently compared and grouped into broader interpretive themes. Three recurrent themes emerged across both focus groups: rivalry and mutual respect, strategic symbolism and multilayered meaning, and commercial communication and prestige. Although differences in emphasis were observed between the groups, the analysis did not reveal substantial differences in their overall interpretation of the image. The themes presented below therefore represent recurrent qualitative patterns rather than statistically measurable frequencies.

5.1. Shared Symbolic Codes and Audience Interpretation

This finding corresponds to the assumptions of symbolic interactionism and visual communication theory. According to symbolic interactionism, the use and interpretation of images are grounded in culturally defined symbolic codes; individuals rely on symbols to construct meaning and to navigate the social world. Thus, interaction is fundamentally symbol based (Melkumyan, 2020, pp. 3–11). Visual communication is only possible if the symbols used by the interlocutors produce the same cognitive images for all the participants of the communication (Mead, 1934). Thus, culture depends on its participants who meaningfully interpret what is around them and “make sense” of the world in broadly similar ways (Marvasti, 2004, p. 67).

Visual communication is becoming increasingly coded, interactive, and influential. Visual perception is a complex process that encompasses looking, seeing, reference, imagination, interpretation, and representation. These activities collectively shape how visual codes are read and understood. Visual is a mode of understanding and analyzing social reality (Hall, 1997). As Gillian Rose assumes, the visual image is constructive of reality rather than simply being descriptive of it (Rose, 2001, p. 70).

5.2. From Sporting Rivalry to Commercial and Participatory Narrative

The findings also suggest that the photograph transforms the Messi–Ronaldo rivalry from direct sporting opposition into an aestheticized and commercial narrative. By relocating competition from the football field to a staged chess setting, the image preserves the idea of rivalry while associating it with strategy, restraint, prestige, and mutual respect. At the same time, the photograph combines sporting admiration with luxury branding, illustrating how athlete identities can operate simultaneously within sporting and commercial narratives. Its subsequent memetic circulation further extends this process beyond the original corporate strategy, as audiences participated in modifying and recontextualizing the image. Although the focus groups showed broad convergence around rivalry, respect, strategy, and prestige, differences in emphasis demonstrate that the image did not generate a single fixed reading. No strongly resistant interpretations emerged within the present sample, which should not be interpreted as evidence that such readings are absent among wider audiences.

5.3. The Meme as a Media Virus

According to Douglas Rushkoff, a meme is a kind of media virus in mass communication (Marvasti, 2004, p. 67). Rushkoff observes that “just as a biological virus spreads through the human body, so do images and ideas spread through the media.” A media virus, as a widespread element of popular culture, infiltrates consciousness, and the meme acts as its active “agent,” cloaked in a media veil (Rose, 2001).

A meme can influence individuals covertly, shaping opinions and thereby affecting significant historical events. One of the defining features of media viruses is that both the virus and its memes can be “constructed” and “deconstructed” in order to generate an alternative ideological code.

The findings of the present study support this perspective. The photograph analyzed in this article transcended its original function as a commercial image and evolved into a widely circulating communicative artifact that generated multiple interpretations across media platforms and audience groups. Its rapid dissemination, extensive audience engagement, and capacity to stimulate symbolic reinterpretation demonstrate several characteristics traditionally associated with media viruses.

Within 2 days of publication, the photograph accumulated more than 64 million likes across the Instagram accounts of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, becoming the most-liked Instagram post in the history of both athletes’ accounts (ESPN, 2022). The scale of audience engagement suggests that the image functioned not only as a visual representation of two globally recognized athletes but also as a communicative artifact capable of generating substantial public attention and participatory interaction.

Thus, memes – particularly those with high viral potential – operate not only as humorous or entertaining artifacts but also as symbolic mechanisms capable of reframing meanings and subtly redirecting public perception. In this case, the meme transformed a sport-related image into a broader cultural text through which ideas concerning competition, prestige, luxury, strategic thinking, and sporting excellence were communicated to diverse audiences.