In anticipation of the Women’s World Cup, a brilliant marketing video utilizing the latest deepfake technology has emerged to challenge gender stereotypes.
Spearheaded by telecommunications company Orange, the ad showcases an incredible compilation of the French men’s soccer team’s impressive skills, featuring renowned stars like Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Olivier Giroud.
However, there’s a twist – the players you just witnessed aren’t actually them.
Halfway through the video, the truth is revealed: the jaw-dropping skills performed by the soccer players belong to the women’s team, not their male counterparts.
A caption in the ad emphasizes this by stating, “Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that’s not them you’ve just seen.”
This clever video effectively conveys the message that women’s soccer is just as captivating and skillful as the men’s game.
While deepfake technology has raised concerns due to its ability to manipulate images, this ad demonstrates its positive application.
Creating the advertisement was a labor-intensive endeavor, as the marketing agency responsible for the video, Marcel, had to scour through footage from more than 80 men’s and women’s soccer matches.
Margaux Grenouilloux, a strategic planner at Marcel, explains that despite evolving attitudes, the discourse surrounding women’s football on TV shows, social media comments, and conversations overheard in bars is often calamitous, sexist, and mired with unjustified biases that have no place in 2023.
Grenouilloux further explains, “We knew that football fans always disagreed on many topics: clubs, players, predictions, the level of women’s teams. But we knew that there was one thing they never questioned: beautiful technical skills.
The love for skillful plays that garner millions and millions of views on streaming platforms, with ‘best-of’ videos on specialized channels followed by countless football fans.”
Historically, women’s soccer has been overshadowed by the men’s game, a point exemplified by the stark difference in prize money.
While the upcoming tournament offers a total prize pool of $150 million, the winner of last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar received a staggering $440 million.
Set to commence on Thursday, July 20, the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The USA is the favored team to clinch the trophy.