Mbappé China Backlash: Sponsors Drop Star Over Mao Meme

The Mbappé China backlash is the kind of brand crisis that can blow up in a single afternoon: one laugh on a French talk show, and within a day sponsors were gone, broadcasts were paused and a state broadcaster was issuing warnings.

Here is what happened, who walked away, and why this one clip matters far beyond football.

The clip that started it

The trouble began with a segment from the French programme "The Bridge." Asked about his favourite meme of himself, Kylian Mbappé said it was a video of "some guy — I think he's a Chinese dictator," according to CNBC, which cited a Reuters report. The programme then cut to an edited image of his face placed on a figure resembling Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China.

Reuters said it could not independently authenticate the video, but the clip spread fast on Chinese social media. Four topics about the Real Madrid forward were among Weibo's top ten searches on October 27, and fans accused him of profiting from the Chinese market while offending its people.

Sponsors bail within hours

The commercial hit came quickly. Dongpeng Beverage, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground all announced they were ending their partnerships. According to France 24, Dongpeng said it was terminating all cooperation "with immediate effect" because it has a "zero-tolerance policy" toward behaviour that offends national sentiments.

Dongpeng had only unveiled him as the face of its Bushuila electrolyte drink in April, per CNBC. Luxury and sportswear names On and Dior have also reportedly removed Chinese promotional content featuring him, though neither has announced a global termination. Xiaohongshu, the app known abroad as RedNote, said its own deal with him ended on December 31, 2024.

State media and the government pile on

The pressure did not stop at brands. China Media Group, the state broadcaster behind CCTV, suspended La Liga coverage and matches involving Mbappé, and pulled ads in which he appears. His Weibo and Xiaohongshu accounts were also muted, according to the CNBC report, although neither the return of broadcasts nor the lifting of those restrictions could be confirmed as of October 28.

After his apology, a CCTV representative warned: "We will listen to his words, but watch his actions even more closely." Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun added that words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people "will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society."

The apology and La Liga's damage control

Mbappé apologised in Chinese, French and English on X. "I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry," he wrote, acknowledging that his comments were ill-judged. BBC News reports that he is hugely popular in China and has major brand endorsements there.

La Liga also issued a statement of regret, stressing that his personal views do not represent the league. That urgency makes sense: the Sydney Morning Herald reports the league's Chinese broadcast deal is estimated to be worth more than $160 million a year.

Why Gen Z should care

This is a masterclass in how global fame works now. Athletes are walking billboards in dozens of markets, and a joke that lands fine in a Paris studio can land very differently in a country where he fronts campaigns on subway platforms and in elevators. A clip travels faster than any PR team can respond.

It also shows how fast brands move. Companies that spent months building an ambassador's image dropped him within a day, because staying silent risked their own customers' anger. For creators and influencers, the lesson is blunt: your audience is bigger than the room you are standing in.

What comes next is unclear. Broadcasters and sponsors have not said whether any door stays open, and CCTV has made clear that actions will count more than words. For now, the Mbappé China backlash is a live reminder that in modern sport, the biggest rivals are often the markets and moods beyond the pitch. More on this beat is on our sports page and world page.