Words and deeds that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with opposition from all sectors of Chinese society."Mao founded the People's Republic of China in 1949 and ruled through tumultuous decades in the 1960s and 1970s. His death in 1976 brought a new era for China, which began to open its doors to the global economy.
A few people came out in support of him on Chinese social media, but that is a rare response given China's tightly controlled internet, where people are expected to toe the party and government line on sensitive topics.
The France star had referred to the former Chinese leader as a"dictator"during an interview about memes.
Few topics are as sensitive as Mao, which may explain why brands were so quick to terminate partnerships with a global sports star like Mbappé.
As the anger online grew louder, Chinese brands began to cut ties, although they did not explicitly refer to the video.
In clips that have been circulating online, Mbappé does not identify Mao by name.
In 2024, he sued a French influencer and kebab shop owner for using his name in the description of one of the shop's sandwiches, leading to more jokes about the nickname.