Entertainment Lions For Gaming > Challenges & Breakthroughs

GAME-HER

SOKO, Sao Paulo / GUARANA ANTARCTICA / 2023

Awards:

Bronze Cannes Lions
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Case Film

Overview

Credits

Overview

Why is this work relevant for Gaming Entertainment?

When we noticed female soccer players aren't depicted in videogames like they should, we made sure to develop a project that would truly bring the gaming community to act. So, if players aren’t portrayed in football games, we will display them in every single other game.

We started a movement to pressure game developers into solving the issue, with the Brazil Women's Squad protesting at Copa America Finals to bring awareness to the issue. Then, streamers taught people how to create player's faces on games like FIFA, GTA, Elden Ring and The Sims, bringing the whole country to the movement.

Background

Brazil is the country of football. Man's football. Unfortunately, it doesn't give the same status to women. And we noticed that even in video games, female players aren't portrayed as they deserve. Those generic versions with random names don't represent Brazilian women's football at all. After all, we are talking about the national team. And if female players are not represented in such valuable media, they are losing both visibility and money.

Guaraná Antarctica, a proud sponsor of Women's Football, decided to take a stand by creating a nation wide movement: #Game-her. A platform to connect with Gen Z, with a real growth impact for women's football.

We united the women's national squad, the biggest streamers in the country and real people to pressure game developers and achieve one common goal: equality for players everywhere, even in games.

Describe the strategy & insight

The most played games in Brazil have more than 10x more players than FIFA. So, why not bring the players of the national women's football team to all of them instead?

Our objective wasn't just to connect with football fans, we also wanted to connect with Gen-Z, who has a huge potential to become a fresh new generation of fans.

To draw media attention, a stunt was made at the Copa America finals with the players using their generic game names on their jerseys.

Then, we focused on gamers, rallying streamers to pull live sessions teaching people how to create player's faces on different games.

Finally, we launched an open database with physical details of the players and paid contracts so developers would only have to sign them.

That's how we made Brazil get on topic and developers have to listen to us.

Describe the creative idea

If Brazilian female players aren’t portrayed in football games, we will bring them to every single other game.

We created a movement to pressure game developers to put our players in the games for good. The girls protested at the Copa America finals, using the generic game names on their jerseys, just like in football games. Then, we gathered streamers to teach audiences how to make the players' exact faces on games like FIFA, GTA, The Sims, Elden Ring, etc.

The players also starred in a special can with the revenue being directed for the image rights they WEREN'T getting.

Then, we launched an open database with dozens of Brazilian physical details of the players from height, to face, to stats. But most importantly, we negotiated their contracts so developers would only have to sign them. Players could also reach us to send their data and join the effort.

Describe the craft & execution

We wanted to pressure game developers and tackle the problems listed by them.

First, to draw attention to this issue, we partnered with Brazil's women national squad and printed their generic names from FIFA on the jerseys for the Copa America Finals.

Then, we rallied streamers to teach people how to create players in all kinds of games: Fifa, GTA, Elden Ring, The Sims, etc. The whole country got on topic and made it clear that women's football is a matter of national interest.

We brought our players into our cans, to spread the word on the P.O.S, and directed the revenue for the image-rights they were not getting from games.

Finally, we launched an open database with everything developers needed: details from dozens of players and, contracts negotiated so they would only have to sign them. Also, every player could join and be listed on our database.

Describe the results

We proved that people are – in fact, interested in seeing the female players exactly as they are in video games.

The stunt had more than 67M organic impact, being the second biggest reach of Guaraná Antarctica.

We had 91 PR mentions. The most covered Guaraná football campaign in the press in its history.

In over 130 hours of streaming, 850 people created our players' avatars in different games like The Sims, Fifa, Elden Ring and GTA.

Over $1,500,000 in revenue from the special packaging were directed to players to compensate for the image rights they weren't receiving.

We created an open and complete database with full details, data and contracts for more than 58 players, with 28 of them joining the effort spontaneously.

But most important: Konami agreed to negotiate to put our national squad in the next E-Football (Former Pro Evolution Soccer)

Please tell us how the work tackled and confronted disparities within the gaming community / industry.

Brazil is known as the country of football. Male players are carefully detailed in every single football game: earrings, tattoos, hair styles and their real names.

But even with female teams portrayed in the latest generation, there are NO real female Brazilian players in videogames. Developers claim 3 reasons for that:

- People aren't interested.

- It's too costly to get physical features

- Brazilian law makes contracts impossible

So, Guaraná Antarctica did what other brands couldn’t: started a movement by rallying streamers and showing people how to portray female Brazilian players in every detail on different games like FIFA, GTA V, The Sims, Elden Ring, etc.

Players starred a special packaging, with the revenue being directed for image rights they were NOT getting from games.

Finally, we launched an open database with physical details of the players and even contracts negotiated so developers would only have to sign them.

Is there any cultural context that would help the jury understand how this work was perceived by people in the country where it ran?

Brazil is known as the country of football. And male players are carefully detailed in every single football game: like their earrings, tattoos, hair styles, and their real names.

But even with female teams being portrayed in the latest generation of football games, there are NO real female Brazilian players in video games. The developers claim 3 main reasons for that:

1 - People are not that interested.

2 - It's too costly to get physical features

3 - Brazilian law (*Lei Pelé) makes contracts impossible.

*The Pelé Law ensures contract rights to players, but it’s way more difficult for female players, because this law states that every contract or negotiation should be held individually by each player, making it difficult for them to have image-rights and copyrights.

That's one of the reasons why developers make generic versions, because the negotiation process is very difficult.

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