French Women’s World Cup twisted commercial spins gender using AI

A Women’s FIFA World Cup commercial from France, created by Publicis Groupe using its custom-made AI platform Marcel, has garnered global attention with a compelling statement on gender in sport.

At first glance, it looks as though the advertisement is promoting men’s football.

The first fifty seconds of the advertisement, created for French telecom company, Orange, is footage of the Les Bleus, France’s national men’s football team, scoring and winning on the field amidst a roaring crowd.

The twist then comes as it's revealed that the men’s players from the team were in fact players from France’s women’s team - Equipe de France. 

A message appears in the campaign: “Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that's not them you've just seen."

The footage of the players then rewinds and the VFX editing is highlighted on the screen whereby they’ve swapped the male figures for the players and skills of the females.  

Each female player has had a male player’s face superimposed onto their own. 

The campaign takes a stand for women in football as the FIFA World Cup begins this week, challenging the prejudices against these sporting stars.  

It’s a testament to women’s football and a reminder to all that it's as exhilarating as the men’s game. Despite the players being obscured, the audience marvels just the same.    

The ad's message concludes: "At Orange, we support Les Bleues."

The FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday night. The final will take place on August 20 at Sydney Olympic Stadium.