Lay's Uses AI to Change Commentator's Voice in Experiment Against Sexism in Football

We know how latent the 'women in soccer' issue is in Brazil today. Just like other topics that raise heated discussions within this universe, the female presence in matches – whether on or off the field – is an issue that has had great focus among the spectator public. With this in mind, LAY’S, which has been a sponsor of the women’s UCL over the last few years, prepared a social experiment to highlight the need to reinforce respect for women inside and outside the sphere of soccer.

In the action, created by AlmapBBDO agency, journalist Elaine Trevisan commented on the friendly game on March 26th live on radio broadcast and on YouTube. But the people listening didn't know that it was, in fact, Elaine who was commenting. The journalist's voice was changed by a male voice - named Elias - in real time using an artificial intelligence tool. She participated as if she were a guest male commentator. Days after the game, Elaine revealed the action in a video on social media

“I am not Elias. I’m Elaine Trevisan, a journalist for 14 years, and LAY’S invited me to do a social experiment at a soccer match this week. Analysing the comments on social media about Elias' broadcast, I noticed that there weren't many people criticising, as usually happens when I'm a commentator. We are here today to defend that this is how we, women, are treated in sports broadcasts and, of course, also outside of them. Without being invalidated because we are women talking about soccer. Because we know a lot, okay?”, explained Elaine.

“LAY’S suggested this action together with Elaine to give a more tangible dimension to a problem that women face every day, inside and outside of soccer. We chose Brazil's favourite sport, which should be inclusive for everyone, to promote, above all, a conversation about respect for all people”, explains Simone Simões, marketing director at PepsiCo”.