MANCHESTER — Soccer fans are buzzing about a Women's World Cup ad featuring French stars Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann - or so it seems at first.
In Telecom company Orange's campaign aimed at challenging people's perceptions of women's soccer, the two-minute ad appears to show a display of magical soccer skills from diving headers to curling free kicks by Mbappe, Griezmann and others.
Then comes the twist.
France Women's World Cup commercial
This from Orange France is an all too rare example of a brilliant football commercial: pic.twitter.com/5JcPhOuMs8
— Simon Evans (@sgevans) July 15, 2023
A message reads: "Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that's not them you've just seen."
The footage rewinds and the VFX editing process is revealed, showing that the skills and the goals are actually all those of Les Bleues women's players including Sakina Karchaoui and Selma Bacha.
"Absolutely bamboozled me. Great ad," one fan wrote on Reddit, while one Twitter user describes it as "the French commercial that blew our minds".
France, fifth on the FIFA rankings, open their World Cup campaign when they take on Jamaica on July 23.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
