Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Orange’s brilliance challenges gender inequality

Orange’s brilliance challenges gender inequality

Telecom company, Orange, uses visual effects to highlight the immense skill levels existing in both men's and women's soccer alike

Orange

Marc Wong was a volunteer at a telephone crisis center, and he has worked in computer security. His passion for listening and helping others is now his mission. His book Thank You For Listening was cited as an “invaluable self-improvement guide” by Midwest Book Review. He believes our biggest challenge as a species is to bring out the best in ourselves.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, an international soccer competition, is being hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand from July 20, 2023 to August 20, 2023. The telecom company Orange recently released a video, “a Compil des Bleues” to support the French national soccer team.


The video has been gaining attention recently. Spoiler alert! It starts off by showing highlights from the French men’s national team, showing their incredible skills. But then it is revealed that the exciting highlights were actually from the French women’s matches, with the female players altered with special effects to look like famous male players.

The video brilliantly and viscerally challenges the idea that women’s soccer matches are less entertaining than men’s soccer matches. It makes a case for equal pay between male and female athletes.

Contrast this with some other well-known commercials over the years. The first example is the 1971 “Buy the World a Coke” commercial. Its most memorable feature is probably the catchy tune that eventually became the hit song, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony).” Another well-known commercial is the 2017 Heineken “Worlds Apart: An Experiment” commercial. It is memorable for appearing to get people on two sides of an issue to sit down over a drink. And lastly, Nike’s 2021 “You Can’t Stop Us” commercial. It won the 2021 Outstanding Commercial Emmy and featured seamless side-by-side video montage of athletes in different sports, and brilliantly implied unity and continuity.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

“A Compil des Bleues” is different from the other examples . because while all these commercials are inspiring, entertaining, and beautiful, the French one challenges (potentially hidden) biases. The French one is arguably the most successful at changing minds and educating viewers.

When it comes to interventions, to bridge the divide and find common ground similar considerations apply. The most important thing may not be the form of the intervention but whether we can appeal to, and then change hearts and minds, especially in areas where there is disagreement. Can we engage, inspire, and educate in an entertaining fashion?

To change minds and hearts we cannot just preach to the choir. Interventions need to have mass appeal and we must be careful to have an appealing message to those who might be new to this messaging approach.

In this case, “des Bleues” used the most popular sport in the world (soccer) to make their point.

Since so many of our disagreements are emotionally charged, we cannot rely on facts and reasoning alone either. There was no mention of gender equality or players’ salaries in the commercial but instead it was filled with exciting highlights. Furthermore, if people don’t gain meaningful insight into our most challenging issues, they are just going to argue in circles making common ground impossible.

Read More

We Need to Rethink Polarization Before It Becomes a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

An illustration to symbolize two divided groups.

Getty Images / Andrii Yalanskyi

We Need to Rethink Polarization Before It Becomes a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

It’s time to rethink the notion that we Americans are too polarized to work together and get things done. And it’s time to get clear-eyed about what’s really holding us back and what it will take to help us move forward together.

A few years ago, I engaged cross-sections of Americans from all across the country in 16 in-depth focus groups about how they were feeling about their lives, the country, and our future. These conversations resulted in the report Civic Virus: Why Polarization is a Misdiagnosis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Even in victory, Republicans should listen to their opponents

An illustration of someone listening and someone speaking.

Getty Images / Leolintang

Even in victory, Republicans should listen to their opponents

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, many people have discussed Democrats’ mistakes—from being “out of touch” and insulting, to focusing too much on Trump, to Biden’s “arrogance” in running again. It’s good for political parties to ask tough questions about how their approach may be driving people away and how they can better serve people.

As Republicans continue to celebrate their victory, will they be brave enough to ask themselves similar questions?

Keep ReadingShow less
Honor The Past Without Shame: Anniversaries Pass, Trauma Remains

An illustration of a clock surrounded by clouds.

Getty Images / Artpartner-images

Honor The Past Without Shame: Anniversaries Pass, Trauma Remains

Even as the wildfires of California continue, having affected an estimated 200,000 residents and resulted in 27 deaths, the memory of the Northridge Earthquake of January 1994 and the mass devastation and destruction afterward still linger three decades later.

The fires raged recently on the anniversary of the earthquake in the San Fernando Valley in California, when 33 people died and 7,000 were injured with a damage cost estimated up to $40 billion. The loss of life, livelihood, and long-term lingering trauma experienced has been widely recognized by mental health professionals and the lay community as well.

Keep ReadingShow less