Key Point
- A French advertisement that used visual effects to promote women’s football and female athletes went viral.
- The ad features an exciting clip showing the talent of the men’s players, but the clip later turns out to be from a women’s game.
- The ad aims to challenge the perception that men’s football is ‘better’ or ‘more interesting’ than women’s.
This week as 2023 made headlines with its cleverly edited ad describing perceptions of women’s sport and athleticism.
La Compil des Bleues (Blues Compilation), released by French telecom company Orange, celebrates the country’s best footballers with a twist.
The first half of the video appears to show an exciting football moment during a game by French men’s team Les Bleus.
The clip features diving headers and curling free kicks by superstars like Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, along with passionate comments and cheers from the crowd.
“Only Les Bleus gives us this feeling, but that’s not all you’ve seen,” a message appears on the screen.
The ad then rewinds, revealing that the footage was in fact filmed from a match for the women’s team, Les Bleus.
The second half of the video shows how to use visual effects to make the striking moves of female athletes like Sakina Kalchaoui and Selma Bacha look as if they were performed by Mbappe or Griezmann.
It was created by the advertising firm Publicis Groupe. Tour Marcel.
The ad ends with a message of support for the women’s team.
“At Orange, when we support Les Bleus, [France’s men’s team]we support Les Bleus [the women’s team]. “
What is the purpose of viral football ads?
This ad is more than just showcasing visual effects and editing.
A spokeswoman for Orange told CNN that the ad aims to challenge prejudices about women’s sport and the perception that female athletes are less skilled than their male counterparts.
“The general opinion is that men’s football is better, faster and more interesting than women’s football for the majority of football fans (and that’s the problem),” the spokesperson said.
An ad by French telecom company Orange aims to challenge perceptions of women’s football. sauce: Supplied / orange
“For the first half of the video, it was important to make the viewers think they enjoyed what men did, and the only way to make them believe it was…to make a woman into a man!”
Former Socceroos captain Craig Foster praised the ad and shared it on Twitter.
“Must see this. Full text,” he wrote.
“Football is football. Sports are sports. End of story. Join sports played by women and amazing @FIFAWWF athletes.”
One fan wrote on Reddit, “Truly deceived. Great ad,” while one Twitter user described it as “a French commercial that blew our minds.”
Female soccer players are paid less, get fewer promotions and receive less public attention than their male counterparts.
The 2023 World Cup could help change that, with 75,784 and 42,137 crowds at the opening games in Sydney and Auckland respectively.
The Auckland crowd set a new record for an international football match in New Zealand, while the Sydney crowd set the record for the largest women’s football match ever in Australia.
Les Bleus will open their World Cup against Jamaica on 23 July in Sydney.
–Additional coverage by Reuters
