Submitted by EdelmanAgency IPI Score 94/100

The Social Swap

Influencer Marketing

Heineken secretly swapped the X accounts of pundits Jill Scott MBE and Gary Neville across five UEFA Champions League matches to expose the gender bias driving online abuse of female football commentators.

122KEngagements
7,800Total mentions
35Countries reached
+1.4BTotal impressions
1.6MOrganic film views
77MCampaign film views

About the campaign

As official sponsor of both the Women's and Men's UEFA Champions Leagues, Heineken needed to go beyond badge-level sponsorship and confront a reality of football's social media culture: female pundits face a disproportionate volume of sexist abuse that critics find easy to dismiss as subjective. With LePub leading creative and Edelman UK on global PR, the brand answered with evidence rather than assertion, running a live, secret A/B test on X, the platform where most live football commentary and much of the documented abuse occurs.

Across five Champions League matches in May 2023, pundits Jill Scott MBE and Gary Neville quietly swapped accounts, each posting commentary under the other's handle while the public interacted unaware. Because the swap was secret, any difference in response could be attributed to the perceived gender of the poster rather than the quality of the take, and the finding was stark: Scott's account, carrying Neville's words, received five times more sexist comments, including remarks like get back in the kitchen.

The experiment was revealed in September 2023 through a hero film and global press release, sparking worldwide conversation about gender bias in football and winning the X category and a Bronze Honor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the 9th Shorty Impact Awards, plus a Lovie for Best Social Media Campaign.

Case in 60 seconds

Female football pundits face a disproportionate volume of sexist abuse on social media when sharing opinions about the game, creating a hostile environment that is easy for critics to dismiss as subjective, as Edelman UK reports.

Reactions to football commentary online are shaped by the perceived gender of the commenter, not the content of the comment, meaning the same words attract different treatment depending on who people think is posting them, according to the campaign's central premise.

Run a live, secret A/B test on X during UEFA Champions League finals by having Jill Scott MBE and Gary Neville swap accounts for five days, so each posted football commentary under the other's handle without the public knowing.

Across five UEFA Champions League matches in May 2023, Jill Scott posted from Gary Neville's account and Gary Neville from Jill Scott's; the team recorded all responses, then revealed the experiment through a hero film and press release distributed globally in September 2023.

Jill Scott's account, carrying Neville's words, received five times more sexist comments than Neville's account did, including remarks such as 'Get back in the kitchen'; the campaign sparked global conversations about gender bias in football and won the X category at the 9th Annual Shorty Impact Awards.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

The campaign targeted a broad range of football fans and social media commentators to capture overall community sentiment, with a specific focus on Gen-Z fans who rally behind social causes, aiming to convert them into allies for a more inclusive football environment.
Football is a sport with a large, passionate female fan and pundit base, yet women who share opinions on the game online face a disproportionate volume of sexist abuse, as Edelman UK documents. The tension sits between the sport's stated aspiration for inclusivity and the everyday reality of its social media culture.
As official sponsor of both the Women's and Men's UEFA Champions Leagues, Heineken needed to go beyond badge-level sponsorship and demonstrate a genuine commitment to inclusive football in a way that felt earned rather than performative. The challenge was producing undeniable evidence rather than assertion.
Heineken acted as the architect of the experiment, using its sponsorship access and relationship with two high-profile pundits to create the conditions for a controlled, public test. The brand's role was to surface a systemic problem rather than to position itself as the solution, with the UEFA finals providing a credible moment to speak.
Because the swap was kept secret from the public, any difference in the volume or nature of responses could be attributed to perceived commenter gender rather than content quality. The team used this controlled structure to produce a clear, repeatable measure: five times more sexist comments directed at the account perceived to belong to a woman.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • X (Twitter) — live match commentary posted from swapped accounts over five days and five matches
  • Hero reveal film — explaining the swap and presenting the findings, distributed as earned media
  • Press release — global earned distribution at reveal stage

Partners

  • LePub — global creative lead, per Creative Salon and LBBOnline
  • Edelman UK — global PR lead, per Creative Salon and LBBOnline
  • UEFA — rights holder context as Heineken is official sponsor of both the Women's and Men's Champions Leagues

Participation mechanic

  • Secret live social experiment: public interacted with swapped accounts without knowing the swap had taken place
  • Organic X commentary during UEFA Champions League matches generated real-world response data
  • Public reveal through hero film invited audience to reflect on their own reactions

Creator role

  • Jill Scott MBE — posted football commentary from Gary Neville's X account during live matches
  • Gary Neville — posted football commentary from Jill Scott MBE's X account during live matches
  • Both pundits served as named protagonists in the reveal film

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult typeConfidence
Sexist comments on swapped account5x more than the counterpart accountSocial sentimentAgency reported
Total impressions1.4B+ReachAgency reported
Total mentions7,800Earned mediaAgency reported
Engagements122,000EngagementAgency reported
Countries reached35+Reach / DistributionAgency reported
Paid social impressions226 millionReachAgency reported
Campaign film views77 millionReach / viewsAgency reported
Organic film views1.6 millionReach / viewsAgency reported
Organic engagements2,700EngagementAgency reported
Positive or neutral sentiment94%SentimentAgency reported
Women believing Heineken promotes diversity230%Brand perception / measured liftAgency reported

Awards & Recognition

Award showYearCategoryResultSource
Shorty Impact Awards2023X (formerly Twitter)Winner—
Shorty Impact Awards2023Diversity, Equity & InclusionBronze Honor—
Lovie Awards2023Best Social Media CampaignWinner—
Clio Awards2025Not specified in sourcesShortlisted—

Why Edelman's strategy worked

  1. 1

    A controlled live experiment produces evidence that audiences cannot easily dismiss. Because the public did not know the accounts had been swapped, the fivefold difference in sexist responses pointed unambiguously to perceived commenter gender rather than content quality, as Edelman UK notes.

  2. 2

    Pairing two widely recognised pundits created both the reach and the A/B structure the experiment needed. Gary Neville and Jill Scott MBE had large, established followings whose reactions were representative and whose names guaranteed newsworthiness at the reveal.

  3. 3

    Running the experiment on X placed it exactly where the problem being measured actually occurs. As Edelman UK explains, X is where most live football commentary happens and where much of the documented abuse toward women in the field is concentrated, which strengthened the credibility of the finding.

  4. 4

    A reveal mechanic built for earned media extended the campaign's reach beyond the experiment itself. The hero film and press release gave editors a ready-made story with a clear before-and-after structure, reducing the friction to coverage.

  5. 5

    Anchoring a purpose activation to an owned sponsorship moment gave the brand a credible reason to speak. Heineken's position as official sponsor of both the Women's and Men's UEFA Champions Leagues meant the intervention was contextually earned rather than opportunistic.

  6. 6

    Keeping the experiment secret during execution was essential to validity. Any public knowledge of the swap would have compromised the data and undermined the narrative; the covert phase was what made the reveal compelling, per the campaign's own framing.

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