Kylian Mbappe dropped by two Chinese brands over alleged Mao meme remarks

Kylian Mbappe has been dropped by two major Chinese brands after a video circulated online in which the France and Real Madrid forward appeared to make a joke about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Drinks company Dongpeng and dairy producer Mengniu both announced on Tuesday that they were ending their commercial relationships with the 27-year-old.

Dongpeng said it “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,” the company added.

Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, issued a similar statement.

“With immediate effect our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe,” it said.

“Mengniu firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.”

The decisions followed the publication of a video in which Mbappe apparently said the funniest internet meme he had seen involved his face being digitally placed on that of “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator”.

The comments appeared to refer to a meme showing Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao, who founded the People’s Republic of China and died in 1976. Several similar memes have used Mbappe’s face alongside images of historical figures.

The authenticity of the video had not immediately been verified by AFP Fact Check.

On Chinese social media platform Weibo, “Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe” became the most popular trending topic.

One user said the “extremely serious wrong remarks… crossed the red line. They are completely unacceptable”, while other users called on Dongpeng to remove images of Mbappe from its energy drink bottles.

Jokes about Mao remain a social taboo in China and are widely viewed as disrespectful.

Dongqiudi, one of the country’s largest online football outlets, said in a statement on Monday evening that Mbappe’s comments were “offensive to China and the Chinese people”.

It added that the remarks “have hurt the feelings of Chinese football fans and the Chinese people”.

Mbappe discussed memes portraying him as historical figures, including authoritarian leaders, during an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe in September.

“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 upon millions of people — well, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that in my life,” Mbappe added.

The controversy emerged a day after Mbappe lost out to Harry Kane for the Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award.