Two major Chinese brands have ended their partnerships with French football star Kylian Mbappe after a video circulated online in which he appeared to joke about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
Chinese beverage giant Dongpeng and Mengniu, the country’s largest dairy producer, announced the termination of their partnerships with the Real Madrid and France forward on Tuesday, citing remarks they said could offend Chinese national sentiments.
“Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments,” Dongpeng said in a statement, announcing that it was “with immediate effect terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe”.
Mengniu also confirmed its decision to end the partnership.
“With immediate effect our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe,” the dairy producer said.
The company added that it “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 circulation of a video in which Mbappe reportedly described a meme featuring his face superimposed on that of a historical figure as the funniest internet meme he had seen.
The 27-year-old footballer appeared to refer to the figure as “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator”, in an apparent reference to Mao, who led China for decades.
Several internet memes have superimposed Mbappe’s face onto images of historical figures, including Mao.
However, AFP Fact Check said the authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified.
The controversy quickly gained traction on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where “Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe” became the top-trending topic.
The development comes after Mbappe lost out to Harry Kane in the race for the men’s Ballon d’Or at Monday’s ceremony.
AFP
