- Chinese companies including beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu, and cheese manufacturer Milkground have terminated their sponsorship deals with French footballer Kylian Mbappé.
- The commercial fallout occurred after a clip surfaced online showing Mbappé describing a favourite meme of himself edited onto the body of Mao Zedong, referring to the founding leader of Communist China as a 'Chinese dictator'.
- The brands released coordinated statements expressing strong opposition to any words or actions that hurt national sentiment, whilst Chinese social media platform RedNote confirmed it would also remove promotional materials involving the player.
- The remarks triggered a fierce backlash across Chinese social media networks including Weibo, where hashtags calling for a boycott of the star topped trending lists alongside comments telling him not to visit the country.
- Mbappé has been a major face for products across China, appearing in prominent subway and elevator advertising campaigns alongside stars such as Lionel Messi, though his representatives were not immediately available for comment.
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