Hisense buys Euro 2016 boards to say in Chinese what China's ad law bans at home

In January 2016 Hisense paid a reported €50M to become the first Chinese sponsor in the Euro's 56-year history, yet was near-unknown in Europe. The market that actually bought its TVs was back home — where the new Advertising Law bans 'absolute terms' like No.1.

Put 'Hisense TV, China's No.1' — an absolute claim China's 2015 ad law forbids domestically — on French perimeter boards, beamed back to Chinese viewers by the broadcast.

Per match Hisense got sixteen 30-second board slots: fourteen ran English ('Hisense, CHINA'S NO.1 TV BRAND'), two ran Chinese ('海信电视 中国第一'). Home viewers erupted over whether the Chinese slogan broke the ad law; Hisense replied the boards complied with UEFA rules and French law, citing third-party data: 13 straight years as China's TV sales leader.

The €50M buy — about a quarter of Hisense Electric's 2015 net profit — made Hisense the tournament's most-discussed brand in China ('the biggest dark horse'). Its overseas brand awareness rose from 37% (2016) to 54% (2023), and it has repeated the board trick at every World Cup and Euro since.

In January 2016, UEFA announced Hisense as a global sponsor of Euro 2016 — the first sponsorship by a Chinese company in the championship's 56-year history, at a reported €50 million (≈¥370M, roughly a quarter of Hisense Electric's 2015 net profit). France's BFMTV noted the brand was little known in Europe and wanted the tournament's global audience to fix that.

Each match, Hisense's perimeter boards ran sixteen 30-second slots: fourteen in English ('Hisense, CHINA'S NO.1 TV BRAND') and two in Chinese ('海信电视 中国第一'). The Chinese boards were the point: China's 2015 Advertising Law bans absolute terms like 'No.1' in domestic advertising, but the boards stood in France, governed by UEFA rules and French law — while domestic broadcasts carried them straight to the audience that buys TVs.

The domestic debate did the media buy's second job for free. Netizens argued over legality; a rival TV maker's brand chief called it an 'edge-ball' claim; Peking University's ad department head Chen Gang called it 'very clever' — a slogan not allowed at home reaching Chinese viewers via international broadcast, a new regulatory question. Hisense answered that the claim rested on third-party data showing 13 consecutive years of TV-sales leadership in China. Some netizens concluded the controversy itself was the plan: 'the debate is Hisense's game.'

The device became a franchise. Hisense has sponsored every Euro and World Cup since 2016; at Qatar 2022 the boards escalated to 'China No.1, World No.2', then switched mid-tournament to 'Made in China, strive together' after renewed debate. Third-party research put Hisense's overseas brand awareness at 37% in 2016 and 54% by 2023; by Euro 2024, five of the tournament's 13 top sponsors were Chinese, and Hisense now supplies VAR referee displays, with Euro 2028 already signed.

The Chinese boards were never aimed at Europeans — they spoke to the 100M-plus Chinese viewers of the broadcast, the market that buys the TVs.

A debatable superlative is a media magnet: legality debates, rival complaints and expert quotes all circulated the claim for free.

The claim was lawful where it aired (UEFA rules, French law) and defensible by domestic sales data — controversy without real legal exposure.

Repetition compounded it: the same device at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and three Euros turned one stunt into a decade-long brand asset.

Buy the stage abroad, speak to the customer at home: jurisdiction arbitrage plus a debatable claim turns one board slot into weeks of free media.

Hisense has sponsored every Euro and World Cup since 2016, escalating the boards to 'China No.1, World No.2' at Qatar 2022 before softening them mid-tournament to 'Made in China, strive together'. By Euro 2024 it supplied UEFA's VAR referee displays — the first time UEFA opened that exclusive right — and in September 2026 it signed on as a Euro 2028 global partner, its fourth consecutive Euro.