A French soccer commercial went viral ahead of the 2023 Women\u2019s World Cup<\/a> for pointing out gender biases in the sport.<\/p>\n The clip \u2014 which has made its rounds on social media and has more than 4 million views on YouTube<\/a> \u2014 begins with highlights from what appears to be the men\u2019s team. The announcers excitedly call the game as the players score goals in several instances and cut to snippets of fans cheering.<\/p>\n \u201cFantastic, what a beautiful team!\u201d the voiceover exclaims in French. \u201cThis is the football we love!\u201d<\/p>\n The video then fades to black and the words, \u201cOnly Les Bleus can give us these emotions. But that\u2019s not them you\u2019ve just seen,\u201d appears on the screen. (Les Bleus is the name of the men\u2019s soccer team in France.)<\/p>\n The ad then rewinds back the highlight reel and cuts to a clip of someone editing footage to make it appear that men were scoring the goals when in fact, it was the women\u2019s team instead. The clips of the elaborate deep fakes are displayed side by side, then the original footage is shown. The video then featured the same highlight reel but with the women soccer players scoring the goals.<\/p>\n \u201cAt Orange, when we support Les Bleus, we support Les Bleues,\u201d the final message of the video reads. (Orange is a popular telecommunications company in France, while Les Bleues is the name of the country\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team.)<\/p>\n The ad was originally released in June to promote the Women\u2019s World Cup which officially kicks off<\/a> on Saturday, July 22, in New Zealand. Following the commercial\u2019s release, a spokesperson for Orange explained to CNN<\/a> about the inspiration behind the commercial\u2019s meaning.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the majority of soccer fans (and that\u2019s the problem), the general consensus is that \u2018men\u2019s soccer is better, faster, more interesting than women\u2019s.\u2019 We also know that soccer videos have a great success online,\u201d a spokesperson said to the outlet on Thursday, July 20. \u201cIt was essential that during the first half of the video, viewers would think they were enjoying male actions and the only way to make believe that was to \u2026 reshape women into men!\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. Women\u2019s National Soccer Team<\/a>, for their part, has been fighting for equal pay since 2016. Carli Lloyd<\/strong><\/a> revealed that the group only received 40 percent<\/a> of their male counterparts\u2019 earnings at the time \u2014 despite performing better in tournaments. The team went on to file a complaint<\/a> for the injustice and sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was settled in February 2022, with each player earning a total of $24 million, per ESPN. That September, both the U.S. men\u2019s and women\u2019s national teams signed an equal pay agreement promising identical pay for games, tournaments and World Cup prize money. At the 2023 ESPYs, the team was awarded <\/a>the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage<\/a> for their contribution to the sport on and off the field.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been able to do is truly amazing,\u201d Briana Scurry<\/strong>, a U.S. women\u2019s goalkeeper who was part of the 1996 strike for equal pay during the Olympics, said while accepting the award on behalf of the team. \u201cThere have been 252 women who have worn the shirt of the U.S. national team since its inception. And we are accepting this award on behalf of every single one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"French](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/French-Soccer-Ad-Goes-Viral-for-Pointing-Out-Gender-Biases-Ahead-of-the-Women-s-World-Cup-292.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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