The French Women’s Football team has made a “powerful gender statement” with Orange, a telecoms company, that women are just as skillful as the men on the field. For too long, women have had to prove themselves to the opposite sex.
Orange in collaboration with French creative agency Marcel, through the latest ad, have overturned prejudices that all too often surround the players, that the women’s game is less skilled and exciting than the men’s.
The ad focuses on the field with dramatic theme music and exhilarating narration of commentators. Attention is drawn to the skilled footwork of French soccer maestro Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe. Words on the screen say “Only les Bleus can give us these emotions”. Les Bleus is the nickname for the French men’s national team. “But that’s not them you’ve just seen.” The short film reveals that the montage was a deepfake!
Viewers realize that the male soccer players’ faces have been superimposed onto the bodies and highlights of their female counterparts – Sakina Karchaoui and Delphine Cascarino, an others. The ad’s closing words are “At Orange, when we support les Bleus, we support les Bleus.” This ad surfaced in late June for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup that kicks off on July 20.
Fans are applauding the commercial with great reviews. One Twitter user commended the ad as an interesting concept. “It kind of plays into the idea that women’s soccer players are just as fast, big and good as the man.” Another wrote “This is so good. Really simple yet effective delivery of a campaign by flipping the gender here. A great example of that one team mantra clubs are constantly trying to achieve.” And yet another said that’s brilliant. “It also reinforces/is a reminder of why so many are watching women’s sports – they are bloody good these days.”
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