Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands over Mao joke video
French footballer Kylian Mbappe was dropped by Chinese brands Dongpeng and Mengniu after a video emerged of him joking about Mao Zedong, which Chinese firms said offended national sentiments.
French football star Kylian Mbappe was dropped on Tuesday by two major Chinese brands after a video circulated online in which he appeared to joke about former leader Mao Zedong.
Drinks giant Dongpeng said in a statement: 'Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments. With immediate effect we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe.' Adverts showing AI-generated images of the 27-year-old France captain drinking a Dongpeng sports drink were regularly shown in China during this year's World Cup.
Mengniu, China's largest dairy producer, also cut ties with the Real Madrid forward. 'With immediate effect our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe,' Mengniu said in a statement. 'Mengniu firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,' it added.
The announcements came after a video emerged online with Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen was of his face photoshopped onto that of 'some guy — I think he's a Chinese dictator'. This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao, one of several using the footballer's face and other historical figures. The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified by AFP Fact Check.
In China, jokes about Mao, the country's founding leader who died in 1976, are considered disrespectful and remain a social taboo. 'Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe' was the top-trending topic on Chinese social media site Weibo. One Weibo user said that the 'extremely serious wrong remarks... crossed the red line. They are completely unacceptable'. Others urged Dongpeng to remove Mbappe's image from their energy drink bottles.
Dongqiudi, one of China's biggest online football outlets, said in a statement on Monday evening that Mbappe's remarks were 'offensive to China and the Chinese people' and 'have hurt the feelings of Chinese football fans and the Chinese people'. Mbappe in September addressed a previous meme depicting him as a military dictator, in an interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe. 'There's a part of it that's funny... but there is another part that's a bit less funny because of the damage such people have caused throughout history,' he said, adding: 'Being compared to individuals who murder others, or who have brought misery to millions upon millions of people — well, I don't think I've ever done anything like that in my life.'
The furore in China came a day after Mbappe lost out to Harry Kane for the Ballon d'Or. Global sports stars that have commented on sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong have previously caused controversy in China and been dropped by sponsors there. Former NBA player Dwight Howard referred to Taiwan as a country in 2023, sparking fury on Chinese social media. Beijing claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.