Shanghai. The controversy surrounding Kylian Mbappé is spreading further. When asked about his favorite meme in a podcast, the French soccer star brought up a “Chinese dictator.” Apparently what was meant was China's founder Mao Zedong, a political pillar saint in the People's Republic.
Chinese companies then ended their advertising partnerships with Mbappé. These include the beverage manufacturer Dongpeng and the dairy companies Mengniu and Milkground. Social platforms Xiaohongshu, known abroad as Little Red Book, and Weibo froze Mbappé's accounts. The broadcasting group, which includes state television CCTV, suspended broadcasts of the Spanish league in which Mbappé plays.
Even the apology from the 27-year-old Real Madrid striker hardly smoothed things over. “We take the apology of those affected seriously,” said Foreign Office spokesman Guo Jiakun in monosyllables in Beijing on Wednesday. Real Madrid and the Spanish league also apologized. China is a sales market for both, and German football clubs such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are also active in China. The political opinion of the customers there is therefore of economic relevance.
Many Western companies, brands and celebrities have already experienced this when they got caught up in Chinese shitstorms that the state did not rhetorically slow down or even support. A party newspaper wrote in an opinion piece about Mbappé that respect for other nations and cultures was an essential lesson.
“China is particularly demanding when it comes to politically sensitive issues,” said Damian Maib, founder of the Genuine consulting agency in Shanghai, which advises foreign companies on the Chinese market, to the Handelsblatt on Thursday. “An interview outside of China can also affect the Chinese business.”
The list of similar cases is long. The US basketball league NBA delivered one in 2019: After a tweet from Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey about the protests in Hong Kong against the pro-Beijing government there, China suspended the league's sponsorship contracts and state television took the Rockets games off the program for a year.
Icelandic singer Björk shouted “Tibet, Tibet” at a concert in Shanghai in 2008. China interpreted this as support for the Tibet region's aspirations for autonomy. Since then, the authorities have tightened their control over foreign pop stars, and the number of top international groups performing in China has never recovered.
The authorities canceled the US rock band Bon Jovi's first China concerts in Beijing and Shanghai at short notice in 2015, without any official reason. The British newspaper “Financial Times” suspected the band's performance in 2010 in front of a picture of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, as the reason.
There are similar cases in companies too. This year, Japanese fashion retailer WEGO announced a clothing collaboration with the anime series “My Hero Academia”. Sales were scheduled to begin on September 18, the 95th anniversary of the Mukden Incident, which began Japan's 1931 occupation of Manchuria, which is part of Chinese territory.
Many Chinese customers criticized the choice of appointment online. WEGO's Chinese subsidiary subsequently apologized and said the Japanese parent company had terminated the partnership and deleted all promotional materials. On the Japanese website, WEGO only cited “various reasons.” However, this sparked new criticism in China.
This year, Canadian sporting goods manufacturer Lululemon hosted a yoga event on the Great Wall that featured Chinese actor Zhu Yilong. The event was intended to celebrate Chinese culture. However, users on the Weibo platform accused the organizers of using Japanese-style taiko drums. Lululemon apologized and removed all content related to the appearance.
Last year, the Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch came under fire because an Asian-looking man pulled back the skin around his eyes with his fingers in a promotional video for the “Swatch Essentials” collection. This is widely seen as a racist gesture, not just in China. Swatch apologized on Weibo and withdrew the material worldwide.
Maib points out that such an apology does not guarantee a quick recovery of the image. Some cases are forgotten in China, others remain present through regular reminders on social media. An example is the case of the Italian luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana. In 2018, she posted a video in which a Chinese woman tried to eat pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks.
Critics in China called the campaign racist and culturally condescending. Chinese celebrities withdrew their support, the company canceled its major fashion show in China's unofficial fashion capital Shanghai, and its products disappeared from leading e-commerce platforms. However, the video is still in circulation and available on YouTube.
How Mbappé will fare remains to be seen. Because social media is more widespread in China today than it was in 2018, the incident is unlikely to be quickly forgotten and Mbappé is likely to remain controversial as a person in China.
Maib advises companies to consider public attitudes, previous statements and handling of sensitive topics, as well as awareness and target group adaptation, when examining possible advertising partners, so that they do not come under Chinese criticism and risk local business. Since athletes and pop stars are particularly active on social media these days, this is likely to remain a challenge.
