 "Cristiano Ronaldo reaches 500 million followers on Instagram, thanks fans with special video")
The promotional campaign of Louis Vuitton that features Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is doing exceptionally well across social media. Since the two legendary footballers dropped a photo of them playing chess on Instagram on Saturday, the French luxury brand’s campaign has amassed a total of 72 million likes including 38 million likes on Ronaldo’s account, 29 million likes on Messi’s account, and more than 5 million likes on the Vuitton account. The advertisement added a new feather to Ronaldo’s crown making him the first person to reach 500 million Instagram followers, surpassing the follower count of popular celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner.
After breaching the milestone, Ronaldo shared a special video on his personal handle thanking his online fans and followers. He captioned the post, “My life, career, and thoughts, shared with you, always. You are part of my story and together we´ve achieved so much. More than I could dream. In every post, each moment, your support. Thank you!” The post grabbed the attention of social media users. Since being uploaded, the clip has garnered more than 77 lakh likes on Instagram. The comment section saw numerous fans of the Portuguese star congratulating their favourite footballer for achieving this new height. A user noted, “That could be like the world’s 3rd largest nation.” Another individual wrote, “Special player and special person.”
The viral photograph was captured by celebrity portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. Messi and Ronaldo can be seen playing chess atop branded Louis Vuitton trunks in the photograph. The brand shared the post on its page and wrote, “Victory is a State of Mind. A long tradition of crafting trunks.” Earlier, Peter Heine Nielsen shared on Twitter that the position of the pieces on the board was inspired by a great match between two chess greats Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura at the Norway Chess tournament in 2017. Ronaldo, who is now in Qatar with the Portugal national squad for the 2022 World Cup, was recently revealed to be departing Manchester United. The decision to instantly part ways with the footballer was announced by the club, which claimed that it was a mutual choice.