Manchester City star Erling Haaland has left fans speechless after showcasing his Mandarin skills in a new advertising campaign for Chinese herbal tea brand Walovi (or Wanglaoji in China), with many viewers initially believing the video was AI-generated.
The Norwegian striker appears in multiple adverts for the brand, speaking several sections in Mandarin. One video shows him in bizarre situations – from belching fire at a barbecue to watching a game with friends – all scored by a remix of his signature song based on German pop group Dschinghis Khan's "Moskau." In another clip, he says in Mandarin: "Hello everyone, I'm Erling Haaland, global ambassador for Walovi," before switching to English and finishing with the tagline: "Beat the heat, drink Walovi."
When Walovi later released behind-the-scenes footage on its official Instagram account, fans expressed astonishment that the ad was real. Comments included: "This is PEAK," "Thought this was AI," "Bro almost broke out of character," and "Multilingual king."
Haaland already speaks fluent Norwegian and English, as well as German from his time at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund. The ad campaign comes ahead of his first World Cup campaign.
