Mengniu and Dongpeng Dropped Mbappé Over a Mao Meme. They All Should Have Seen It Coming.

On Monday, a clip surfaced from an earlier interview in which Kylian Mbappé was asked to name his favorite meme. He picked one that puts his face on Mao Zedong’s. By the next day, Chinese brands including Dongpeng and Mengniu had dropped him, other companies had pulled his ads, and China’s state broadcaster had stopped showing La Liga games. Then came the apology, in Chinese, French and English.

I’m not interested in arguing about Mao, or about whether Chinese consumers are too sensitive. What Mbappé thinks of Mao is his own business. For a company, that debate doesn’t matter. The rules of a market are a fact, and you have to plan for them whether you like them or not.

What I don’t understand is why companies keep making the same mistake.

Brands pay stars millions to represent them. For that kind of money, they should get more than a famous face. They should get someone who thinks before he speaks. If a star takes a fortune from a market, he accepts that market’s rules. If he doesn’t want to, he can say no to the deal. Nobody forced Mbappé to sign.

Foreign companies have stumbled in China for years. Marriott listed Tibet and Taiwan as separate countries. Mercedes-Benz quoted the Dalai Lama in an ad. The NBA paid dearly for one tweet. This time, Chinese companies got burned. They hired a global star to sell drinks and dairy to Chinese consumers, and now face an obvious question: how well did they prepare him for the market he was selling to?

The kind of risk behind these cases was predictable, even if the exact incidents were not. Somebody just had to bother to look.

Many companies still treat this as a PR problem: say sorry, wait it out, move on. Look at what happened to Mbappé’s apology. On one big Chinese news app, the top comments came from all over the country, each with hundreds of likes, and most said the same thing: “Never forgiven.” “What good is an apology?” One person wrote that he wasn’t sorry, just scared. Another said he was only worried about his endorsement fees.

The apology did little to calm the anger visible in those comments. Many of those readers saw it as a way to protect his income. By the time he said sorry, the damage was already done.

What frustrates me most is how little it would have cost to take precautions. A few hours of training and a few lines in a contract might have prevented an expensive mess. Instead, marketing investments and business relationships are now at risk. If a company wants to throw money away that badly, it could at least give it to charity.

This isn’t only a China problem. Customers everywhere punish brands that insult them. In 2023, Bud Light upset many of its core buyers in the United States, faced a boycott, and lost its place as America’s best-selling beer. In 2006, after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, shoppers across the Middle East boycotted Danish goods. Arla, the Danish dairy company, watched its sales there almost disappear, even though it had nothing to do with the newspaper’s decision. It was a reminder that companies can suffer from political controversies they neither caused nor controlled.

Nobody expects a brand to mock its customers’ faith in Riyadh, or their values in Texas, and still keep their business. China works the same way.

Some will argue that China is different because the government gets involved. CCTV did pull La Liga within a day. But for a business, that just means the stakes are higher and planning matters even more.

I co-founded a retail chain in China that grew to 100 stores. These are the basics I’d tell any company.

First, check a star’s history before you sign. If he’s known for edgy jokes, you’re taking a big risk.

Second, train him before the deal is done. A few hours with someone who knows the market’s red lines costs very little compared with a canceled contract.

Third, write it into the contract. Most endorsement deals have a morality clause, but it usually covers things like drugs and scandals, not political comments about a major market. Say clearly what counts as a breach and what it will cost.

Fourth, protect the money. For big deals, pay in installments and include clawback terms, so you’re not paying full price for a face you have to take down.

Finally, train your own staff. Executives, marketing teams and local employees cause these problems as often as celebrities do. A map, a T-shirt or a social media post can do as much harm as an interview.

Some people will say this is paying stars to keep quiet. Yes, it is, and there’s no reason to hide that. A star who takes the money accepts the limits. A star who doesn’t like the limits should turn down the money. Either choice is fine. What’s not fine is taking the money, ignoring the limits, and leaving the brand to pay.

If you really want to take a stand, take it and stick with it. Speaking first and apologizing later is the worst choice. Mbappé lost his Chinese endorsements, his apology failed to persuade many of his critics, and some people in the West now think he caved. He ended up without those contracts or a clear stand.

The companies that last in China aren’t the ones that agree with everything. They know where the lines are, and they decide ahead of time whether the business is worth it.

Every company and every star has the right to take a political stand, and the right to stay out of a market they can’t live with. Criticize China as much as you like. Just don’t take the money at the same time.

If you want to make a statement, make one. If you want to do business, manage your risks. And stop making shareholders pay for your confusion.