French football star Kylian Mbappé (Kylian Mbappé, translated from Hong Kong) caused a storm of public opinion in China because he talked about a "Chinese dictator" meme (also known as a "meme" in mainland China) in an interview. It was widely believed to be an allusion to the late CCP leader Mao Zedong. Many Chinese brands have successively announced the termination of cooperation with him or drawn a line under him, and China Central Radio and Television has also suspended the broadcast of event content and advertisements related to him.
Since October 26, a clip of Mbappe's interview has been widely circulated on social platforms such as Reddit, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Threads. The video shows that when he was asked on the French online talk show "The Bridge" "Which of the Internet memes made with his own avatar made you laugh the most?" he said that the funniest one was when someone combined his face onto a photo of a "Chinese dictator." He also said that he often used this meme when playing video games with his friends.
Mbappe did not name him in his answer. However, in the post-production of the program, a picture was added that combined his face with the image of Mao Zedong, which led many viewers to believe that he was referring to Mao Zedong.
The BBC was unable to independently verify when the interview was recorded and published. As of press time, the official social media account of "The Bridge" has been unable to find relevant clips, and the program website does not provide replays; Mbappe himself, his management team, and the program have not responded publicly.
Mbappe currently plays for Real Madrid in Spain and serves as the captain of the French national team. He helped France win the 2018 World Cup and scored a hat trick in the 2022 World Cup final. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and commercially valuable players in today's football. In the Chinese market, he has also been favored by brands for a long time and has cooperated with Mengniu, Dongpeng Beverage, Xiaohongshu and other companies.
Brand contract terminated, CCTV stopped broadcasting
After the interview clip continued to ferment, Dongpeng Beverage Group took the lead in issuing a statement on Tuesday (October 27), announcing the termination of cooperation with Mbappe, saying that the company "firmly opposes and has zero tolerance for behavior that hurts national sentiments." Mengniu Dairy and Magic Lando subsequently announced the termination of their cooperative relationship with him.
Life-sharing platform Xiaohongshu also issued a statement opposing any words or deeds that hurt national sentiments. It also clarified that the commercial cooperation with Mbappe has ended on December 31, 2024, and that relevant promotional materials are currently being investigated and removed from the shelves.
China Central Radio and Television said on the same afternoon that due to Mbappe's "serious negative behavior related to China", it has suspended the broadcast of La Liga and related content involving him from Monday, and all commercial advertisements featuring him have also been removed from the shelves.
Public opinion remains high. As of press time, the top three hot searches on Weibo are all related to Mbappe's remarks, and six of the top ten searches are related to Mbappe's remarks. Topping the list was an editorial published by "Beijing Time", a subsidiary of Beijing Radio and Television Station, "Mbappe knows the feeling of being humiliated but does not understand respect."
The editorial mentioned Mbappe's experience of racial discrimination during the World Cup in July this year. At the time, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla described him online as "a colonized Cameroonian pretending to be French, resentful, nouveau riche, arrogant and ugly". Mbappe himself and the French Football Federation responded directly, calling the remarks "outrageous and unacceptable."
The editorial pointed out that this kind of racial discrimination is similar in nature to Mbappe's remarks. He should not hurt the feelings of the Chinese people while making money from the Chinese.
In recent years, it is not uncommon for incidents that have been deemed by Chinese public opinion to have "hurt national sentiments" to result in commercial consequences.
In 2021, the fast fashion brand H&M encountered large-scale boycotts in China for issuing a statement on the issue of forced labor in Xinjiang. Many maps and e-commerce platforms once removed it from the shelves, and many Chinese artists announced the termination of cooperation; the French luxury brand Dior was also involved in controversy for using a model image that some netizens called "squinty eyes" in its advertisements, and was criticized for vilifying the Chinese people. This type of controversy often heats up as online public opinion heats up and quickly spreads to the commercial level.
Curiosity and anger in the information vacuum
But on Weibo, Douyin and other platforms, many netizens are still asking: What did Mbappe say? What was the cause of the incident?
China's largest football information platform Dongqiudi issued a statement on Monday night saying that because the content "involves harm to China and the Chinese people", the platform chose not to translate it, and called on fans to discuss rationally and avoid excessive remarks.
The cold treatment only intensified curiosity. Some netizens who are good at circumventing the firewall have found the original interview film and are selling relevant clips on social platforms to attract curious people to pay to watch.
Among the public opinions condemning Mbappe, one voice was angry at the official narrative that "Mbappe hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and then waved the flag; the other was a netizen who had watched the controversial video and said, "How dare he talk about our teachers?" In the online context of Chinese young people, "teacher" is a synonym for Mao Zedong.
The "Mao Zedong fever" behind the storm
The Mbappe controversy is not only a public opinion incident surrounding the star's remarks, but also reflects Mao Zedong's special position in contemporary Chinese society.
Although Mao Zedong has been dead for 50 years, his influence on China today is still growing, especially among young people who are active on the Internet.
