Dongpeng and Mengniu cut Mbappe ties after Mao joke video

Dongpeng Beverage and Mengniu ended sponsorship cooperation with Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to company statements reported by Channel NewsAsia, after an online video appeared to show a Mao Zedong joke.

The decisions turn an online backlash into commercial fallout for the 27-year-old Real Madrid and France forward, with two Chinese consumer brands acting over remarks about a founding leader who died in 1976.

Dongpeng, a drinks company, said it was ending its work with Mbappe immediately. "Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments," Dongpeng said in a statement.

Mengniu, described by Channel NewsAsia as China's largest dairy producer, also said it had severed its relationship with the player. "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 towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people," the company said.

The clip that prompted the reaction showed Mbappe referring to the funniest internet meme he had seen as one in which his face was placed on that of "some guy - I think he's a Chinese dictator," according to the report. Channel NewsAsia said the comment appeared to refer to an image combining Mbappe with Mao, one of several memes using the footballer's likeness with historical figures.

AFP Fact Check said it could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video, a significant caveat given the speed with which online clips can trigger corporate and political responses in China.

Mao remains central to the Chinese Communist Party's founding narrative. Public jokes about him are widely treated in China as disrespectful, and brands often move quickly when public anger forms around perceived insults to national dignity.

The issue was already dominating Chinese social media. "Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe" became the top-trending topic on Weibo, Channel NewsAsia reported. One Weibo user said the remarks were "extremely serious wrong remarks" that "crossed the red line.

They are completely unacceptable".

Dongqiudi, a major Chinese online football outlet, said Monday evening that Mbappe's remarks were "offensive to China and the Chinese people" and "have hurt the feelings of Chinese football fans and the Chinese people".

Mbappe addressed the broader meme trend in a September interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe, referring to depictions of him as historical figures including authoritarian leaders. "There's a part of it that's funny. You can tell that, for some people, it's all in good fun.

But there is another part that's a bit less funny because of the damage such people have caused throughout history," he said.

"Being compared to individuals who murder others, or who have brought misery to millions upon millions of people - well, I don't think I've ever done anything like that in my life," Mbappe said in the L'Equipe interview quoted by Channel NewsAsia.

The controversy followed a busy week for Mbappe on the field. Atlas360 reported on Oct. 26 that he scored twice as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in El Clasico, while Channel NewsAsia reported that the China backlash came a day after he lost the Ballon d'Or to Harry Kane.