French esports organisation Team Vitality and supermarket chain ALDI have launched a new collaboration that aims to combat toxicity towards women and promote diversity in esports.
The campaign is spearheaded by a video in which Team Vitality players and other figures recount their experiences with misogyny in gaming and esports.
The video, titled ‘Des Failles dans La Faille‘ (Rifts in the Rift in English) features Rising Bees players Velouria ‘Viki’ Baty, Madison ‘Crowmac’ Coutelet and Alena ‘Tifa’ Maurer, as well as TV host Marie Polet, League of Legends caster Nox and Team Vitality Director of Esports Anne Banschbach.
Each person takes turns reading and reacting to hateful messages which include body shaming and threats of physical violence, admitting that they have become used to such abuse and discussing how it affects their mental health and in-game performance. The video also shows the figures reading kind messages in an effort by Team Vitality and ALDI to ‘highlight the power of positivity in boosting morale’, according to a release.
ALDI has been a supporter of Team Vitality’s women’s League of Legends roster since its inception in February of last year. The company first became a partner of the organisation in 2021. In January, the women’s roster rebranded from French Bees to Rising Bees and brought on bank Crédit Agricole — who first sponsored Vitality in 2020 — as a main partner.
Team Vitality noted that it produces content following the Rising Bees’ journey throughout the year in an effort to break down stereotypes and create role models for gamers.
Team Vitality is perhaps best known for its League of Legends and Counter-Strike rosters, the latter of which recently secured a partnership with Counter-Strike case-opening platform Skin.Club.
Other partners of Team Vitality include Web3 company Tesoz and ice cream brands Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s. In January 2023, the organisation penned a three-year deal with Danish sportswear brand hummel as its sports apparel partner and official match jersey provider.
