Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe’s rapid fall from favour in China after remarks about Mao Zedong followed a familiar pattern: online outrage, corporate distancing, platform restrictions and official intervention. Within 24 hours of a podcast clip surfacing in which the France captain referred to Mao as “some guy - I think he’s a Chinese dictator”, sponsors including Mengniu Dairy, Shanghai Milkground and energy drink-maker Eastroc ended co-operation with the footballer.
State broadcaster CCTV removed Mbappe-related advertising and Chinese social media platforms restricted access to his accounts. Mbappe apologised on Tuesday, describing his remarks as “ill-judged”. The speed of the fallout will be familiar to companies, brands and celebrities with exposure to China. Analysts say the episode is the latest reminder of a business risk that remains difficult to manage despite years of similar controversies.
Foreign brands have repeatedly faced public backlash in China, from Dolce & Gabbana’s cancelled Shanghai fashion show in 2018 and apologies by Versace, LVMH-owned Dior and Tapestry’s Coach in 2019, to boycotts of H&M, Nike and Adidas over Xinjiang cotton and the NBA’s fallout with CCTV after a Houston Rockets executive expressed support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
The details differ, but the pattern is similar: a remark, image or statement gains traction online, commercial partners come under pressure to respond, and reputational damage quickly outgrows the original offence. “You don’t need to think like a Chinese person to succeed in China, but you do need to understand how Chinese audiences will react and the cultural implications of not self-policing,” said Michael MacRitchie, founder of MGI Group, which connects global celebrities with Chinese brands. The Mbappe case illustrates how difficult that distinction can be to draw. As the controversy unfolded, the original comments about Mao were largely inaccessible on China’s heavily censored internet. Many consumers were therefore exposed less to what Mbappe said than to reports that sponsors had dropped him and official media were condemning him. Zak Dychtwald, founder of BridgeWorks Global, which advises multinational organisations, said that although these controversies remain relatively common, they are preventable. “If you are participating in this market, the expectation is that you respect China’s self-narrative and you have a basic understanding of what it is. Red line education should come at the foundation of it,” he said. -Reuters