How Heineken Turned the Tables on Football's Gender Bias with a Social Swap

Heineken has committed to making football inclusive for everyone — an intention that was underlined by "The Social Swap" campaign that ran earlier this year.

Among other successes since going live, the work is now set to take home a Lovie Award for Best Social Media Campaign.

Female football pundits face disproportionate levels of online abuse compared to their male counterparts, particularly on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where football conversations thrive. As the official sponsor of both the Women’s and Men’s UEFA Champions League, Heineken set out to tackle this toxic behaviour during the UEFA club finals in May 2023.

Working with global creative lead, LePub, and its global PR lead, Edelman UK, their goal was clear: expose the double standards women face and reinforce the message that football should be inclusive for everyone.

This bold initiative didn’t just spark conversations about gender bias in football; it shattered stereotypes and underscored Heineken’s belief that the game belongs to all fans, regardless of gender.

A Bold Social Experiment

Heineken partnered with two of England’s most sucessful ex-footballers and commentators, Jill Scott MBE and Gary Neville, for a unique social experiment. Over five UEFA Champions League matches Scott and Neville would secretly swapped their X accounts, sharing football commentary under each other’s handles.

The results were striking. Scott’s account—now managed by Neville—received five times more sexist comments than Neville’s account. Comments like "Get back in the kitchen" underscored the biases at play, proving that reactions often depend more on the perceived gender of the poster than the content itself.

The experiment demonstrated the power of creativity in challenging ingrained societal biases. By swapping the roles of two well-known football figures, Heineken highlighted the stark contrast in how reactions to commentary differ based on gender. The execution was both clever and engaging, with subtle humour helping to engage audiences with the uncomfortable issue of online sexism. The stunt created a conversation that people were not only willing to take part in but also eager to share, showing how addressing a serious issue with creativity can capture widespread attention and spark real change.

Nabil Nasser, global head of Heineken Brand says: “Heineken wants to be the most inclusive sponsor in football and 'The Social Swap’ shows not only the unfair imbalance in football fan culture but also how important it is that we all give gender bias and online toxicity the red card! As well as tackling the issue head-on by calling out harmful practices, by teaming up with Arwen, we are excited to be able to leverage new AI technology to help fans ditch the negative noise and for this new season keep conversations about football, just about football.”

The campaign’s impact was amplified with a hero film that explained the social swap and shared the results of the experiment. The humour infused into the film allowed Heineken to tackle a heavy subject in a way that felt approachable and relevant, inviting audiences to join the conversation. In doing so, they created a dialogue that felt both fresh and urgent.

Driving Change Beyond Awareness

The campaign went further than just exposing the issue. Heineken distributed 5,000 licences for the AI moderation tool Arwen via a dedicated microsite, helping fans filter out abusive comments from their social feeds and creating a safer online environment for everyone. The campaign demonstrates how brands can go beyond just raising awareness and taking meaningful actions that directly benefit its audience. It also highlights Heineken’s dedication to not just highlighting social issues, but also providing tangible solutions to tackle them.

An earned-first strategy amplified the message across 35 markets, featuring interviews with Scott and Neville, partnerships with news outlets like BuzzFeed, Goal.com and HuffPost and content creator outreach.

The Social Swap exceeded expectations:

• 7,800 mentions across social media and online news (2,800 above target).

• Over 1.4 billion impressions, more than doubling the initial KPI.

• 94 per cent neutral to positive sentiment, surpassing its goal by 9 per cent.

• A 230 per cent increase in women who believe Heineken® promotes diversity and inclusion.

The campaign racked up 226 million impressions on social, with the hero film achieving 77 million views at a 100 per cent completion rate. Organic channels also performed strongly, generating 1.6 million views and 2,700 engagements. Moreover, women were more actively involved in football conversations on Twitter, with an eight per cent increase in female users engaging with the hashtag #womeninfootball post-campaign.

Stefan Ronge, co-chief creative officer EMEA at Edelman, adds: “Heineken’s Social Swap campaign is a fantastic example of a credible change-making brand action. Our belief and creative approach is that brands that take action earn trust. In business and society. Audiences increasingly expect brands to take a stand on societal issues and use their cultural and commercial influence to inspire meaningful change from the ground up. The barriers to women’s safe and equitable enjoyment of football are unacceptable, and we are proud to be Heineken’s co-creative partner as we continue to advance their mission to build the most inclusive sponsorship platform in world football.”

By addressing an important social issue with creativity and purpose, The Social Swap not only delivered a powerful message but also left a lasting impact on the football community. Winning the Lovie Award and a Cannes Lions Bronze in the Social & Influencer category is a testament to its cultural significance and success.

In response to its latest win, Claire Graves, president of The Lovie Awards, commented: "Heineken's Social Swap is a brilliant example of how a brand can use social media as a powerful tool to call out the misogyny that many women face online, particularly in male-dominated spaces like football. Heineken and Edelman were able to get that message across with humour, creativity and ingenuity."