
The French soccer star spoke in a podcast about an Internet meme featuring Mao Zedong, after which sponsorship deals in China ended.
AI-generated summary
Critical content about China's political leaders is strictly taboo in the People's Republic and is heavily censored.
The striker of the Spanish record champions Real Madrid had advertising partnerships with a sports drinks manufacturer based in Shenzhen in southern China and a company from Inner Mongolia that is well known in China for its dairy products. Among other things, his face is shown on the labels of the drinks bottles. Mbappé has many fans in China and can often be seen in advertising.
Statements from the football star from an interview on a podcast were previously circulating online. In it he was asked about his favorite meme featuring himself. Memes are photo montages that spread quickly online. In response, Mbappé named a meme with a "guy" who he believed was a "Chinese dictator" with his face mounted on it. That’s what makes him laugh the most, said the 2018 world champion.
Censorship in China
In fact, there are memes with Mbappé's face circulating online, which were originally based on a picture of the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. Mao enjoys a high reputation in China as the founder of the People's Republic. Discussions about Mao's crimes are still taboo there today.
Critical content about China's political leaders is usually heavily censored online in the People's Republic, as was the case in this case.
The end of the partnership between Mbappé and Dongpeng became one of the most discussed topics on the Chinese platform Weibo.
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