Women’s Aid World Cup campaign spotlights ‘The Other Kick Off’

As fans watch England take on the group stages of the World Cup, women living with abuse await a far more sinister kick-off.  

Elvis’ latest campaign for Women’s Aid turns the attention to the women suffering domestic violence and the abuse they face which is often exacerbated by football results. 

The striking campaign underlines that, whatever the result for England, the odds are she will lose.  

Ahead of England’s first match against Croatia, the campaign launched with out of home executions featuring white copy against a red background. The campaign answers the simple question: ‘What time is kick off?’ 

However, instead of showing a football match time, the creative shows a time; 11:37pm, the most likely moment domestic abuse takes place. An insight based on research that takes into account match duration, half-time, added time, and patterns of post-match drinking.

With the 2026 World Cup spread across multiple North American time zones, ‘What time is kick off?’ will be asked more often than ever. The later match times also make for finishes at anti-social hours in the UK and darker consequences.

“For many women and children, the final whistle signals the beginning of something frightening. Domestic abuse is never caused by football, but we know incidents increase during major tournaments, whether England win, lose, or draw,” says Farah Nazeer, CEO of Women's Aid. 

She added: “Every major tournament brings excitement for millions of fans, but it also brings fear, anxiety and danger behind closed doors. We want people to check in on loved ones, trust their instincts if something feels wrong, and remind survivors that support is available; not only for themselves, but for loved ones they're concerned about."

The campaign will run for the duration of the tournament with creative placed in key locations linked to football culture, including city centres, transport hubs, fan zones and areas surrounding pubs. 

Media space was donated by The Outernet, Ocean Outdoor, JCDecaux, Open Media, Alight Media, Grazia and Metro. PR support has been provided by Mischief.

The work comes off the back of the success of Women's Aid's 2022 World Cup campaign 'He's Coming Home', which reimagined the much-loved football anthem as a warning against domestic violence.

Subverting football culture to remind audiences of the darker side of the tournament, Women’s Aid calls for greater awareness and better support for victims of domestic abuse.