BEIJING — Kylian Mbappe was dropped on Tuesday by two major brands in China after a video circulated online in which the French football star apparently joked about former leader Mao Zedong.
In China, jokes about Mao, the country’s founding leader who died in 1976, are considered disrespectful and remain a social taboo.
“Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy toward any behavior that offends national sentiments,” drinks giant Dongpeng said in a statement, adding that “with immediate effect we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe.”
Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, also cut ties with the Real Madrid and France forward.
“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 toward any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,” it added.
The announcements came after a video emerged online with Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen was of his face photoshopped onto that of “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator.” AFP
