Oct 27 (Reuters) – Kylian Mbappe has been dropped by a string of Chinese brands following a backlash to his alleged comments about a meme featuring an image resembling China’s late leader Mao Zedong.
In a video that emerged online on Monday, Mbappe is heard saying the funniest meme he had seen of himself was one where his face had been morphed onto that of “a Chinese dictator”.
Fans have been creating memes superimposing Mbappe’s face on images of military and political leaders to suggest that he has the power to call the shots at the teams he plays for.
Reuters has not been able to authenticate the video.
Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, is idolised by many as the nation’s saviour and jokes about him are considered taboo. He died in 1976.
In a statement posted on China’s Weibo social media platform, Eastroc Beverage, which featured Mbappe’s face on its drinks, said it firmly opposed “behaviour that hurts national sentiment”.
“Effective immediately, we are ending all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe,” it added.
Mbappe’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview with L’Equipe last month, Mbappe said that while some aspects of the trend were harmless fun the viral memes depicting him as a dictator showed “a lack of political and human awareness”.
Dairy companies Mengniu and Milkground also ended their cooperation with Mbappe.
When asked about the incident, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said that words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people “will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of the Chinese society”.
China’s state television has halted broadcasts of all matches and events involving LaLiga and Mbappe, and all advertisements involving Mbappe have been removed, state-backed media outlet the Paper reported on Tuesday.
LaLiga and Real Madrid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
