Professional sport is for men. That myth is being quashed and Heineken, which expanded its UEFA sponsorship to the women’s game last year, is one of the brands helping that to happen faster with a campaign by Publicis Italy and Le Pub.

Heineken’s first move in correcting gender bias in soccer is to address inaccurate statistics online. Heineken has set up a new website, called Fresher Football, that provides correct responses to the most popular questions asked online about the UEFA Champions League, since common answers tend to overlook data from the women’s game.

The Fresher Football project aims to encourage search engines and fan sites to amend their current content with information encompassing all genders. Heineken is, therefore, buying key AdWords around popular online questions about soccer and correcting those answers with accurate statistics that will allow women’s achievements in soccer to come to the fore.

Heineken has also launched an emotive fan commercial that replaces the stereotypical males with women, showing women’s passion for soccer in expected and unexpected scenarios, and ending with the tagline, Cheers to all fans. Men included.

Finally, the brand is partnering with its first female soccer ambassador, English soccer legend and broadcaster, Alex Scott, who was part of Arsenal’s 2007 UEFA Women’s Cup winning team. Scott and Heineken’s current brand ambassador, soccer star, Thierry Henry, will team up to promote the importance of equality in the sport.

“Heineken is a brand for the fans and we’ve always been passionate about bringing people together to celebrate the things they love. Now, on our journey to improve inclusivity in football through our sponsorships, we’re committed to ensuring the sport is a safe and welcoming space for everyone,” stated Bram Westenbrink, global head Heineken brand.

Credits:  

Client: Heineken
Senior Director Global Heineken Brand: Bram Westenbrink
Global Communication Director: Daniela Iebba
Global Communications Manager: Guilherme De Marchi Retz
Global Digital Director: Rob van Griensven
Global Digital Manager: Laurens Griep
Global Football Sponsorship Lead – Football: Benjamin Blanco 
Global Football Sponsorship Manager – Football: Thomas Mulders Agencies: Publicis Italy – Le Pub
Global Chief Creative Officer Publicis WW: Bruno Bertelli 
Chief Creative Officers: Cristiana Boccassini & Mihnea Gheorghiu
Executive Creative Director: Milos Obradovic
Global Creative Director: Sandra Bold
Art Director Supervisor: Marie Poumeyrol
Associate Creative Directors: Corina Patraucean & Nicolo Carrassi
Art Director: Daniele Tesi
Creatives: Thiago Jacon & Conor Barry
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Bela Ziemann
Strategy Director: James Moore
Global Strategy Director: Daniel Vargas Gomez
Global Ethnography Manager: Mina Baginova
Chief Creation Officer: Francesca Zazzera
TV Producer: Sanam Bartoletti
Digital Producer: Florin Marica      

Production Company: Good People Films
Director: Ali Ali
DOP: Farhad Ghaderi
Executive Producer: Khaled Zaki
Head of Production: Sarah Touma
Producer Greece: Veta Chatziioannou
Producer: Omar Khalil

Digital Producer: EugenIa Papapanou 
Digital Director: Thanos Mitsios
Digital DOP: Evangelos Polychronopoulos
Main Content Editors: Neda Zag & Enrico Munarini
BB Offline Editor: Tommaso Bianchi
Digital Offline Editor: Andrea Besana 
Post Production Company: Framestore 
VFX Shoot Supervisor: Nick Pittas
VFX Lead: Judy Roberts
VFX Artists: Edwin So, Eileen Chan & Jason Farrow
Colour: Simon Bourne @ Company3 Rerecording Supervision: Nitzan Hoffman @ Treble Rebel 

Music Licensing: Dolf Bekker @ Massive Music
Audio Post Production: String and Tins
Sound Design and Mix: Lawrence Kendrick, Jim Stewart & Joe Wilkinson