A Women's World Cup 2023 TV advert has cleverly fooled football fans to highlight the, often misogynistic, misconception that women's football is too slow and not exciting enough.
French telecommunications company Orange has released an advert that shows 'Kylian Mbappe' and his France international team-mates scoring incredible goals, producing clever tricks and moving with the ball at ferocious speeds, all the while entertaining fans watching on from the stands, in pubs and at home on TV.
The montage abruptly stops halfway through, though. What we've just been watching hasn't actually been Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann or Olivier Giroud. Viewers have been tricked.
At this point, a message reads: "Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that’s not them you’ve just seen.”
In fact, what the advert has actually been showcasing up until that point were actions performed by members of the France women's team - that's right, Mbappe et al. weren't banging in those goals themselves.
Instead, what Orange shows by rewinding the footage is the video-editing process behind how they've managed to superimpose the men's players onto the bodies of the players in the women’s France national team, with CGI at the forefront.
Members of the France Women's World Cup 2023 squad, such as Selma Bacha and Sakina Karchaoui, were actually the ones producing such high levels of skill, challenging the perception of women's football among large parts of the footballing community.
In the closing stages, the advert ends with another screen stating: "At Orange, we support les Bleues", the nickname given to the French women's team.
The advert's release comes at the beginning of the Women's World Cup 2023, with New Zealand and Australia both winning their opening games of their joint-home tournament.
France are due to play their first game of the World Cup against Jamaica on Sunday, before coming up against Brazil and Panama. Tipped as one of the tournament favourites, France are expected to reach the latter stages, and potentially even go all the way in Australia and New Zealand.
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