Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands over Mao joke

Kylian Mbappe was dropped on Tuesday by two big brands in China after a video went viral. In the video, the French football star seemed to joke about Mao Zedong, the former leader of China.

In China, joking about Mao, who died in 1976, is seen as disrespectful and is a big social taboo.

"Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments," drinks giant Dongpeng said in a statement. They added, "with immediate effect we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe."

Ads showing AI-created images of the 27-year-old France captain drinking a Dongpeng sports drink were often shown in China during this year's World Cup.

Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, also ended ties with the Real Madrid forward. Mbappe was very popular among Chinese fans, with millions of followers on social media.

He is affectionately nicknamed "Guigui," which means "Turtle" in Chinese. This nickname comes from his popularity in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meme.

"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," they added.

The brands’ announcements came after a video surfaced online. In that video, Mbappe said the funniest internet meme he had seen was of his face edited onto that of "some guy, I think he’s a Chinese dictator."

This seemed to refer to a meme of Mbappe’s face placed over an image of Mao. This is one of several memes using the footballer’s face with other historical figures.

AFP Fact Check could not immediately confirm if the video was authentic.

"Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe" was the top topic trending on Chinese social media site Weibo.

One Weibo user remarked that the "extremely serious wrong remarks… crossed the red line. They are completely unacceptable."

Others asked Dongpeng to take Mbappe’s image off their energy drink bottles.

Dongqiudi, a major online football outlet in China, said in a statement that Mbappe’s comments were "offensive to China and the Chinese people" and "have hurt the feelings of Chinese football fans and the Chinese people."

In September, Mbappe talked about a previous meme that showed him as a military dictator in an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe.

"There’s a part of it that’s funny. You can tell that for some people, it’s all in good fun. But there is another part that’s a bit less funny because of the damage such people have caused throughout history," he said.

"Being compared to individuals who murder others, or who have brought misery to millions, well, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that in my life," he added.

The uproar in China came just a day after Mbappe lost to Harry Kane for the Ballon d’Or, the biggest individual award in football.

Global sports stars who have spoken on sensitive issues like Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong have faced backlash in China and lost sponsors.

Former NBA player Dwight Howard called Taiwan a country in 2023 while he was with the island’s vice president and current president Lai Ching-te, causing an uproar on Chinese social media.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under control.

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in 2019 in support of Hong Kong protests. This led to China suspending sponsorship deals with the NBA and pulling games off Chinese TV for a year.