Fans are praising a French advertisement for the Women’s World Cup for its “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 ad starts off with footage of the French men’s national team on the field, with football stars Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, and Kylian Mbappé seen kicking around the balll.

The footage went on to show the team winning the game, prompting an excited reaction from the crowds watching. However, the advertisement then revealed that there was a surprising twist to what viewers had just seen.

“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 revealed the editing and visual effects that had been applied to the athletes, which included superimposing faces and bodies, with the final result showing that the highlight montage had actually featured star female players.

Orange’s advertisement proceeded to show the same football game from the beginning, but with players from the women’s team, such as Sakina Karchaoui and Selma Bacha, instead of their male counterparts.

The video ended with a message 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 women’s team.

In the caption of the advertisement on YouTube, the organisation added: “#TeamOrangeFootball proves that women’s football is as technical as men’s football.”

On social media, many people praised the ad, and its twist, as “genius”.

“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 [displays] I’ve seen this year.”

TikTok user Lauren Markwith, who frequently posts videos about football on her account, also responded to the ad on the platform, where 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 faced discrimination 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 men “exhibiting highly sexist and misogynistic attitudes” towards women in sports.

However, in a study shared by Sport Management Review last week, researchers found that men and women football players’ performances were rated in a similar way, when their genders were not shown.

France’s first match in FIFA’s Women’s World Cup will take place on 23 July, with the country’s national team playing against Jamaica’s national team.

Read More