The central image is a humorous, single-panel cartoon set on a sandy beach. A pirate with a hook for a hand, an eyepatch, and a small parrot on his shoulder stands next to an open, empty treasure chest. He is reading a long message from a piece of parchment. To his right, two disheveled, shirtless men stand in a hole they have dug, holding shovels and looking disappointed.
The artwork is rendered in a whimsical, hand-drawn comic style with thick black outlines and flat, muted colors. The background is a simple wash of sandy yellow representing the beach. The pirate wears a black tricorn hat with a skull and crossbones emblem. The two diggers appear to be treasure hunters who have been misled, reacting to the pirate's platitudes with skepticism and sarcasm. Speech bubbles hover over the characters, with the pirate speaking a long paragraph in German about how the real treasure is the friendships made during the search, while the diggers reply with cynical remarks like "Boah!" "Voll schön!" and "Besser als Gold."
The overall composition is straightforward, focusing on the comedic interaction between the three figures. The humor relies on the irony of finding an empty chest after a long journey. The surrounding frame is a bright yellow solid block, making the white-bordered cartoon square stand out as the focal point.