Kylian Mbappé’s global brand takes a hit as three Chinese sponsors pull back amid growing boycott pressure

Kylian Mbappé has lost three Chinese sponsors within hours after a viral video clip upset audiences in China. Dongpeng Beverage, Mengniu and Milkground all ended their deals this week, according to Forbes. The trigger was a French online show, where the Real Madrid forward picked a meme that placed his face on a figure he called a Chinese dictator. China's state broadcaster has also paused La Liga coverage tied to him. Mbappé has since apologised, but L'Équipe says the apology will change nothing for his Chinese partners.Mbappé loses three Chinese sponsors after meme remarkThe clip came from The Bridge, a French online show. Asked which meme about himself he liked most, Mbappé chose an edit that put his face on a man he described as a Chinese dictator. He named no one. The version that spread fastest shows his face on a portrait of Mao Zedong. The original footage has since been taken down, though fans had already recorded it.The business response came within hours. Dongpeng Beverage, whose Bu Shui La electrolyte drink carried Mbappé's face on bottles and adverts, ended its deal with immediate effect. It cited zero tolerance for behaviour that offends national sentiment. Mengniu, China's largest dairy producer, issued an almost identical statement. Cheese maker Milkground followed.Dior, Hublot and On also pulled his content from their Weibo pages, the Global Times reported.What the lost deals are worthGoal, citing L'Équipe, says two of the contracts were worth about €7 million a year combined. Those were the Mengniu deal and one with an energy drink firm it calls Buxuela, which may be the same company Forbes names as Dongpeng. They were due to run until February and March 2027, and renewal looked highly likely. Now it won't happen.Forbes estimates Mbappé will earn $100 million this season, with $30 million from endorsements and business interests. None of the Chinese companies disclosed what they paid him, so the size of the hit to that $30 million is unclear.He apologised in a statement on Tuesday, saying he now realises his remark "hurt the feelings of many in China" and among Chinese communities worldwide. He said that was never his intention and that he holds deep respect for the Chinese people and their history.Fallout for On, La Liga and Real MadridThe larger exposure may belong to On. Mbappé ended a 20-year relationship with Nike this year to sign with the Swiss brand, and Forbes reports he took an equity stake. China is a major market for On, so his standing there is no longer only about appearance fees. The company had not commented by Tuesday.La Liga has its own problem. China Media Group, the parent of CCTV, has suspended broadcasts of La Liga matches involving Mbappé, according to The Paper, a Shanghai outlet cited by the Global Times. That non-exclusive deal, the league's first with the state broadcaster in nine years, covers this season, with games shown free on CCTV-5+.The bigger contract is digital. In early August, Javier Tebas signed a deal in Beijing making Migu, the streaming service owned by China Mobile, the league's exclusive new media partner in mainland China through 2029-30. Migu shows all 380 matches a season. It is also state owned, and whether it follows CCTV is what La Liga will be watching this week.Real Madrid have been here before. A 30 August post about flood victims in "Nepal and Tibet" was deleted on 3 September after the Global Times pushed for different wording, and a February post by Dean Huijsen needed an apology on Weibo.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.