Move over, Barbie. The icons of women’s soccer are stepping into the spotlight in a series of Nike ads

The ninth Women’s World Cup commenced this week before record crowds in Australia and New Zealand. Nike, which has long sponsored U.S. Soccer, is marking the occasion with a new ad campaign that brings to life the personalities—and playing styles—of some of the game’s biggest stars from around the world. 

The sportswear giant’s “What The Football” campaign, created by longtime agency partner Wieden+Kennedy, is a series of ads starring players like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe from team U.S.A, Brazil’s Debinha, and Australia’s Sam Kerr. “There has never been a more exciting time in women’s sports, and we see this summer’s tournament as a generational tipping point,” says Melanie Auguste, Nike’s vice president of brand defining, purpose, and athletes.

The introductory film of the series begins where a great many soccer-watching Americans first fell in love the women’s game: watching Brandi Chastain put away the perfect penalty, then rip her shirt off in celebration as the U.S. Women’s National Team won the 1999 World Cup. That fate-shifting moment for women’s soccer sealed victory on home soil, then catapulted women’s soccer into the future as a generation of girls took to the pitch. 

In the ad, a father and daughter watch Chastain’s penalty together. Then, via a cheeky plot twist, the father is catapulted into the world of today, one teaming with elite women’s players. 

Anchored by this two-and-a-half minute film, Nike’s ad campaign also includes 11 “episodic films” that hone in on the individual “it-factor” of leading players from Norway, Nigeria, England, Brazil, France, Canada, Australia, China, and the U.S. Each of these smaller films features a distinct style and tone, from animation to horror. 

Auguste says the choice to focus the campaign on individual players was deliberate: “By creating episodic films of our football heroes, you get to know their distinct voices and personalities.” And in doing so, newer viewers are more likely to get drawn into the storylines for each player and the action on the pitch. “There is incredible momentum right now for women’s sports and a shift that is being led by athletes on the forefront of change,” says Auguste.

To channel the effervescent personality of Rapinoe, for example, the “Let It Rip” spot channels the 80s-style animation of Jem and the Holograms and She-Ra. Rapinoe rides a motorcycle with pink hair to a soundtrack of: “Megan Rapinoe! The all-American hero!” 

For Sophia Smith, the 22-year-old reigning MVP of the National Women’s Soccer League, Nike offers a horror film, with Smith haunting opponents through her looming presence and ominous, sweet smile. Called “Nice to Beat You,” it captures the juxtaposition of Smith’s endearing demeanor with her ruthless destruction on the pitch. 

USWNT co-captain Alex Morgan’s “Effort Made Effortlessly” spot is a perfume-style ad that shows an ethereal Morgan training on a beach while arguing with the French narrator and whispering to herself things like, “I’m already sweating.” This one is fascinating, in particular, because while it appeals to a mass audience, it also contains a number of easter eggs for long-time Morgan fans. At one point, horses join Morgan on the beach. Morgan was famously nicknamed “baby horse” when she first joined the U.S. National Team, due to her majestic strides. 

Other players that get a turn in the spotlight include Australian striker Sam Kerr, who does one of her trademark backflips, and Brazil’s Debinha, who dribbles a ball in a Brazilian supermarket with her trademark flourish and technical flair. The scene is filmed as if via a security camera.  

The overall message—and effect—of the Nike campaign is in contrast with another World Cup spot that went viral recently. Put out by Orange, a French telecommunications company, “la Compil des Bleues” seeks to confront biases around women’s sports. 

Addressing the belief that women’s football doesn’t have the same quality as men, it shows a number of impressive and technical plays that seem to be executed by the French Men’s National Team. In reality, it’s Les Bleues—the women. The men’s faces have just been applied to their bodies using deep-fake technology. The big reveal of who is actually behind those engrossing moves on the pitch sends a clear message.

The ad, which has racked up some 360,000 views on YouTube, has definitely sparked conversation. But some have criticized it, arguing that the women’s game does not need to be the same as the men’s to be worthy or successful. And plus, does shaming viewers about their biases really inspire them to tune in to the women’s tournament?  

What makes Nike’s campaign successful and distinct is that it focuses the eye on the existing superstars of a game that’s never been more popular. It pulls in a multi-generational public by showcasing these women’s personas, without comparing them to men or pandering to the unconvinced. The future is here.