Mbappe Loses Two Major Chinese Sponsors After Mao Zedong Meme Remark

Kylian Mbappe has parted ways with two major commercial partners in China after a video of the French striker surfaced online. In the clip, the 27-year-old footballer made a joke about a meme that digitally placed his face onto the portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong. The remark triggered a swift commercial response from his sponsors.

Dongpeng, a drinks company, announced the termination of its agreement with Mbappe on Tuesday. The company stated that it holds a zero-tolerance policy toward any behavior that offends national sentiments. Dongpeng noted that it had run advertisements in China during this year's FIFA World Cup featuring AI-generated images of the player drinking its sports drink. The split took effect immediately upon the release of the statement.

Mengniu, the largest dairy producer in China, also cut its ties with the Real Madrid forward. The company issued a statement saying it firmly opposes any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Before this incident, Mbappe enjoyed a large following among Chinese fans and held millions of followers on social media platforms.

The specific video that sparked the backlash showed Mbappe describing the funniest internet meme he had seen. He explained that the image featured his face placed onto the face of a Chinese dictator. The reference appeared to point to a popular meme that combined the footballer's features with those of Mao, the founding leader of the People's Republic of China who died in 1976.

Public reaction on Weibo, a major Chinese social platform, was immediate and intense. The topic regarding Dongpeng ending its cooperation with Mbappe became the most-discussed subject on the site. One user described the remarks as extremely serious and unacceptable, arguing that they crossed a red line. Other users demanded that the company remove Mbappe's image from its energy drink bottles.

Mbappe had previously addressed a similar meme in September during an interview with the French sports newspaper L'Equipe. That earlier image depicted him as a military dictator. He described part of the comparison as funny but noted that another part was less amusing because of the historical damage caused by such figures. The current controversy emerged one day after he lost the Ballon d'Or award to Harry Kane.

This incident follows a pattern of global sports figures facing backlash in China over sensitive political topics. Former NBA player Dwight Howard drew anger in 2023 after calling Taiwan a country in a video. In 2019, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supported Hong Kong protests, which led China to suspend NBA sponsorship deals and remove games from television for a year.