The “Axolotl-ization” of Mexico City: An analysis of the public response to the Mexico City government’s political use of the axolotl as an institutional communication strategy.

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38056/2026aiccXXXIII736

Keywords:

citizenship, Memes, oppositional readings, resistance, civic digital activism

Abstract

This article analyzes the public response to the Mexico City (CDMX) government's institutional communication strategy, which incorporated the political use of the axolotl in urban spaces as a narrative device to articulate discourses on identity in the context of the 2026 World Cup. Our analysis focuses on digital posts that critically engage with this initiative. We employed a qualitative methodology using multimodal analysis to examine 117 posts on Instagram and X that challenged these actions. The findings indicate that citizens transformed symbols imposed by the CDMX government into tools for political critique via memes—shaped by an oppositional narrative (Hall, 2004)—employing two tactics that functioned as forms of algorithmic resistance through satire and irony.

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Author Biographies

Maricela Portillo Sánchez, Universidad Iberoamericana

Full-time faculty member in the Department of Communication at Universidad Iberoamericana. PhD in Audiovisual Communication from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Member of the National System of Researchers (Level 2) since 2007. She served as president of the Mexican Association of Communication Researchers (AMIC) from 2009 to 2011. Since 2006, she has coordinated the Working Group on Youth and Communication Studies within the same association. Her research focuses on Political Communication (public opinion formation, the spectacularization of politics, and youth political culture) and Youth Cultures (media construction of youth, technology use, and political participation). Scholar in the field of communication studies, specializing in youth cultures and political communication. Her academic foundation is deeply rooted in international and interdisciplinary training. She holds a PhD in Audiovisual Communication from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, a Master’s degree in Communication from the Universidad Iberoamericana, and a Postgraduate Degree in Youth Studies from the Universidad de Lleida.

Beatriz De Urquijo Isoard, Universidad Iberoamericana

Beatriz holds a Master's degree in International Communication from Leeds Beckett University (England) and Hanze University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands), as well as another Master's degree in Education and Communication from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain). She has taught courses and seminars in the Netherlands, Germany, and Mexico, where she currently serves as a part-time faculty member at Universidad La Salle México. She has also served as a judge for the AMCO Awards (2022) and as an evaluator for the Lasallian Research, Development, and Innovation Competition (CLIDI) (2021, 2022). She is a member of EUPRERA's PR Research Network and has published in indexed journals, book chapters, and conference papers in Mexico and Europe. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Universidad Iberoamericana on an academic excellence scholarship and is serving as an editor of the book "History and Development of Corporate Communication in Mexico," in collaboration with AMCO and CONEICC.

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Published

2026-10-13

How to Cite

Portillo Sánchez, M., & De Urquijo Isoard, B. (2026). The “Axolotl-ization” of Mexico City: An analysis of the public response to the Mexico City government’s political use of the axolotl as an institutional communication strategy. Anuario De Investigación De La Comunicación CONEICC, (XXXIII). https://doi.org/10.38056/2026aiccXXXIII736

Issue

No. XXXIII (2026): Publicación continuaAnuario de Investigación de la Comunicación CONEICC (Publicación continua)

Section

Artículos de Investigación Empírica

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Copyright (c) 2026 Maricela Portillo Sánchez, Beatriz De Urquijo Isoard

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.