The Chinese companies Dongpeng and Mengniu announced this Tuesday the immediate termination of all their commercial and sponsorship agreements with the French forward of Real Madrid Kylian Mbappé, after the player referred to Mao Zedong as "dictator" and jokingly commented on a viral photo montage on social media.
The origin of the controversy lies in some statements by Mbappé during his participation in the internet interview program The Bridge, when he was asked about his favorite 'meme' or the one that had made him laugh the most with his own face. "There are many. The one I laughed the most at is one where they put a video of a guy, I think he is a Chinese dictator, and they put my face on it. I use it a lot with my friends online," the footballer recounted.
After these words spread, his business partners in China rushed to cut the relationship. The beverage company Dongpeng published a message on its social media announcing the end of all collaboration with immediate effect, emphasizing that the company "strongly opposes any action that hurts national sentiment and maintains a zero-tolerance policy in this regard."
Similarly, the dairy producer Mengniu has adopted the same stance through a statement in which it formalizes the termination of its ties with the attacker. "Mengniu strongly opposes any statement or action that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people and maintains a zero-tolerance policy in this regard," the company concluded.