Telecommunications company Orange has gone viral with a football campaign which uses VFX to challenge gender-based perceptions of the Women’s World Cup.
The two-minute film – hailed by some as the ‘best sports advert ever’ – initially appears to be showing extraordinary feats of football, depicting the skills of well-known players such as Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.
Developed by the agency Marcel, the film is set to dramatic music and coloured by excited sports commentary while the montage shows clips of the French men’s national team, widely known by their nickname, Les Bleus.
Halfway through a twist is revealed via a message that reads: “Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that’s not them you’ve just seen.”
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The footage rewinds and it becomes clear that VFX editing has altered the appearance of Les Bleues women’s football players including stars like Sakina Karchaoui and Selma Bacha.
The advert ends with the final message, “At Orange, when we support les Bleus, we support les Bleues”.
The creative has been well-received on social media, leading to some users suggesting it wins the title of ‘best sports advert ever’.
“At Orange, when we support les Bleus, we support les Bleues” 🇫🇷@EquipedeFrance teamed up with @Orange_France to make you question reality ahead of the @FIFAWWC.
Seriously impressive stuff from Marcel, the agency behind the deepfake 🥸
Best sports advert, ever? 😧 pic.twitter.com/P2v0s28A3a
— Behind Sport (@BehindSport) July 17, 2023
The advert coincides with a recent study from the University of Zurich which found the quality of men’s and women’s football performances were judged similarily when the gender of players are obscured.
However, when the player’s genders were revealed, men’s football performance were rated significantly higher.
