Fans praise France’s 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup ad for its ‘genius’ twist

Fans are praising a new advertisement of a French football team for it’s ‘genius’ and unexpected twist. French telecommunications corporation, Orange France, first released the advertisement earlier this month, ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The footage started off with a men’s team on the field, with some of the players included French football stars Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, and Ousmane Dembe. The footage went on to show and announce that this team had won the game, prompting an exciting reaction from the crowds of fans watching. However, the advertisement then revealed that there was a surprising twist to what viewers just saw . ‘Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions,’ the message read, referring to France ‘s national men’s football team. ‘But that’s not them you’ve just seen.’ From there, the advertisement showcased some of the editing that was done on the athletes, by moving the top and bottom halves of their bodies around. The editing then revealed that the male football players in the game were actually female athletes. The advertisement also showed the photo of a female football star on the field, with the label ‘without rigging,’ referring to what the game looked like without the editing. The photo next to it was of a French male athlete, with the title ‘with rigging’. Orange’s advertisement proceeded to show the same football game from the beginning, but with all female players instead of males. Some of these players included Sakina Karchaoui and Selma Bacha. The video also showcased the additional editing that had been done, in order to make the game look like it was played with all men at first. The video ended with a message from the telecommunications corporation that read: ‘At Orange, when we support the Bleus’. The organisation then added the letter ‘E’ to the football team so it read ‘Bleues,’ which is the nickname for France’s female players. In the caption of it’s advertisement on YouTube, the organisation added: ‘#TeamOrangeFootball proves that women’s football is as technical as men’s football.’ On Twitter, many people praised the editing that was done on the ad, for the sake of creating a major twist. ‘Using visual effects for good. This is a genius French ad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup,’ one wrote, while another added: ‘Here’s the French commercial that blew our minds.’ A third wrote: ‘The French ad for the women’s World Cup is one of the greatest marketing I’ve seen this year.’ TikTok user Lauren Markwith, who frequently posts videos about football on her account, also responded to the ad, as she called it the best way to ‘get people, a nation, behind your team’. She went on to praise the message that the advertisement sent about women and men in sports. ‘Obviously, France did phenomenal in the men’s [2022] World Cup, and the women are also powerhouses,’ she said in her video, as the commercial played. ‘At the beginning, I was like, ugh, another men’s commercial, right before the World Cup, but just watch.’ She added that she ‘got goosebumps’ when watching the French advertisement. The advertisement has also been shared on Reddit , with one person responding: ‘I was actually in shock. A clever way for people to confront their bias.’ Over the years, studies have found that women in sports have been scrutinised because of their gender. In a January 2022 survey of 1,950 male football fans, researchers from Durham University found that there were numerous examples of these men ‘exhibiting highly sexist and misogynistic attitudes’ towards women in sports. However, in a study shared by Sport Management Review last week, researchers also found that men and women football players’ performances were rated in a similar way, when their genders were not shown. While some participants in the study gave men players a higher ranking, this was only when they knew what their genders were. France’s first match in FIFA’s Women’s World Cup will be on 23 July, with the country’s national football team playing against Jamaica’s national team.