Mbappé Dropped by Chinese Brands Over Video About Mao Zedong

Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappé has lost endorsement deals with several major Chinese brands following the circulation of a video in which he appeared to joke about Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

The controversy has also raised questions about the broadcast of Spanish La Liga matches in China, with state-run media outlet The Paper reporting that public broadcaster CCTV had suspended its coverage of the competition.

The video shows Mbappé describing an internet meme featuring his face superimposed on that of a historical figure. He reportedly said the image involved “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator,” in what appeared to be a reference to Mao. AFP Fact Check said it could not immediately verify the video’s authenticity.

Mao, who died in 1976, remains a highly sensitive figure in China. Although he is regarded as the country’s founding leader, historians have also linked his policies to mass starvation and millions of deaths, making jokes about him particularly controversial.

Chinese beverage company Dongpeng announced that it was ending its partnership with the 27-year-old footballer, who featured in its advertising campaigns during this year’s World Cup. The company said it had a zero-tolerance policy towards conduct that offended national sentiments.

Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, and cheesemaker Milkground also announced that they were cutting ties with Mbappé. The decisions mark a setback for the forward, who had enjoyed considerable popularity among Chinese football fans and attracted millions of social media followers.

The backlash spread rapidly online, with the hashtag “Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappé” topping Weibo’s trending topics with 430 million views. Some users described the remarks as crossing a line, while others called on Dongpeng to remove the player’s image from its energy drink bottles. Football outlet Dongqiudi also criticised the reported comments as offensive to China and its people.

China’s foreign ministry said it was aware of the reports. Spokesman Guo Jiakun said words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people would naturally face widespread rejection across Chinese society. Meanwhile, The Paper reported that CCTV had suspended La Liga broadcasts and removed advertisements featuring Mbappé. However, the broadcaster’s online schedule still listed La Liga matches for the coming weekend, and searches for the player on its website returned no results.

The episode comes amid a history of commercial disputes involving international sports figures and politically sensitive issues in China. In 2019, China suspended sponsorship arrangements with the NBA and its state broadcaster stopped showing league games for a year after Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey posted support for Hong Kong protesters. Sports consultant Adam Zhang told AFP that Mbappé’s team needed to respond quickly and issue a sincere statement to manage the growing controversy.