Orange is the leading telecommunications provider in France and a historical sponsor of French football. While Orange equally supports both the men's and women's national football teams, women's football still faces significant gender bias among fans. To expose their sexism without being rejected, Orange hacked the most viral type of sport content on social platforms and played with the football fans. So, they watched woman football. More than 200 million times. And they were so happy to be fooled that 91% said they watched woman football from now on.

In France, football is king, with a popularity that has been fueled by the success of the men’s national team : 2-times world champion, finalist of the last edition in 2022. But women's football is left out of the fervor, partly because it’s still a young sport (officially recognized by the FFF in 1974). This 2023 Women’s World Cup was only the 9th edition, whereas it was the 22nd for the men’s. But this doesn’t mean the women’s team’s drive is less than the men’s : they have been #5 in the FIFA ranking for years, have reached the semi-final during the last Euro…

Before the WWC, the French should have been cheering for their determined team. Yet, 3 weeks before its start, no TV partner had agreed to cover it. This was a painful reminder of the lack of institutional support to the sport in France, while other countries have succeeded in bridging the gender inequalities in football, by investing. In this panorama, it was important for brand sponsors such as Orange to step in.

For Orange, the leading telecommunication company, as a former state-owned company, public service is a core value. It is one of the first French brands to provide extensive support for football, with a track record of 24 years backing amateur, professional women and men’s football. Since 2018, the brand has held the status of a Major Partner of the French Football Federation, supporting both the Men's and Women's National Teams with equal resources.

Last summer, the French women's football team played in its 5th World Cup, in a unique context. Up until a few weeks before the competition, no media organization had stepped in to buy the broadcasting rights for the event.

In a country where football is a passion, women's football is left out of the fervor. One of the reasons is prejudice about its lack of technical skills. Many fans have a strong opinion about it, without ever having watched a match, or having looked at biased compilations ("The worst of women's football", "100% fails women's football”…)

This is why the WWC was a key moment for Orange, a committed partner of football for 24 years, to go beyond its usual support for the French Women's Team, via a CSR brief whose main objective was to tackle the prejudices that women's football suffers from.

To challenge football fans' preconceived notions, we used their love of technical moves to create a Trojan horse: a never-before-seen compilation of actions from players of the French men's team. The skilled moves of Mbappé, Giroud, Griezmann are showcased for a minute until the twist reveals the true stars: the French women's team. Through VFX effects, we initially presented them as men to confront biases. The second part showcased the real, unfiltered brilliance of women's technical prowess, urging viewers to see beyond stereotypes.

Our primary target was football fans, but more precisely:

The audience: male supporters

In February 2023, a study for the French Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication found that men count for 66% of sport viewership (63% for women’s sport)

Their problem: sexism

A study from Durham University in 2022 reveals that over 2/3 of male supporters display hostile or sexist attitudes towards women's football.

A study led by the Zurich University Sociology Department. By exposing a group of 613 participants to blurred goals, the research reached the conclusion that perceived quality of actions is heavily filtered through gender stereotypes, with women being pre-judged as less technical.

It convinced us we needed a trojan horse and use men to fight preconceived opinion men can have about women football. To target them, the video was broadcasted in a football-centric ecosystem, through digital and social media and via football influencers.

The campaign was first launched only on X, which is the key platform for football conversations. We capitalized on the account of an influencer with medium visibility but very high engagement. This X account first posted only the first part of the video (= the women's technical moves 'disguised' as men's players), before revealing the trickery a few hours later to its community by posting it in full. Engagement surrounding these 2 tweets was very high, kick-starting mainstream media PR in France: within a day of the tweet, 8 mainstream media outlets were picking up on the video. This meticulous orchestration allowed the compilation to go viral, first in Europe, then around the world.

The video successfully fueled the debate:

+2B impressions

+200M organic views

Estimated organic reach: 800K$

+450 cross-media PR coverage in 91 countries: online articles, TV and radio, podcasts.

Influential relays from all sectors: the French Minister for Sport Amélie Oudéa Castera, Alexis Ohanian (Reddit CEO), Daniel Storey (football365) Gary Lineker, Dan Povenmire. Football players, both men and woman: Delphine Cascarino, Blaise Matuidi, Eugénie Le Sommer, Matteo Guendouzi, Amandine Henry, Oussmane Dembélé, Antoine Griezmann...

> Attribution: 92,5% of media coverage pieces mentioned Orange.

It has become an empowering tool for women and a powerful educational tool for all:

+17pts plan to watch woman’s football vs before watching the film

90% agree that the film raises awareness of the sexist stereotypes that exist in society.

88% agree that broadcasting it in schools is a good idea.

(FreeThinking 02/2024 / French people 16 y/o+, non rejectors of football)