Temu’s $21M Super Bowl ad blitz raises eyebrows — inside the discount site marred with scam allegations
Taylor Swift’s Super Bowl-winning beau Travis Kelce may have secured the Lombardi Trophy Sunday, but Temu scored the ultimate touchdown — making it the “Anti-Hero” of the night to skeptics.
Reminiscent of the Pied Piper, the Chinese e-commerce giant drove hordes of the big game’s 123.4 million viewers to its site with its buzzy “Shop Like a Billionaire” jingle.
However, dissenters online feared that the ditty — which accompanied glitzy animations of shoppers snapping up everyday must-haves on the app for as low as 99 cents — merely masked a dark history of privacy and product complaints from a company with Chinese Communist Party ties.
Temu, short for “team up, price down,” did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment for this story.
‘Oh, my gosh, I love Temu’
Unlike the nihilists, Heather Heenan, a staunch Temu shopper of six months, was pleasantly surprised by the retailer’s championship blitz.
“When I saw the commercials pop up during the Super Bowl, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I love Temu,’” Heenan, 48, a lifestyle influencer from Jackson Heights, told The Post.
The Queens economizer appreciates the site’s bargain-basement prices, which are undeniably eye-catching.
On Friday afternoon, for its Spring Savings sale, Temu’s best-sellers page boasted a wireless speaker for $10.48, a $13.48 vacuum cleaner and a shower mat for an unbelievable 98 cents — all prices worth bragging about.
That’s why Heenan often regales TikTok with cutesy “Temu Time” unboxing videos of her inexpensive finds, such as a $15 knockoff Jalen Hurts football jersey or silver-plated rings she scored for less than $1 each.
“I think the advertisements legitimized the company to a lot of people,” Heenan said of the Super Bowl spots.
The company shelled out an estimated $21 million for its trio of 30-second ad slots.
However, the commercial onslaught was apparently money well spent.
Google Trends data reported a 1,139% spike in web searches for the Temu app — which already ranks as the No. 1 most downloaded iPhone application in the US and boasts 51 million monthly users — during Sunday’s Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers face-off, which set a viewer ratings record.
Plugs for the virtual hub, where deal hunters can snag an HD camera drone for under $20 or a $5 pair of sterling silver earrings, also reportedly outshined big-production promos that featured A-listers like Ben Affleck and Beyoncé.
‘I thought Temu was a scam’
But some social media cynics weren’t buying its too-good-to-be-true propaganda.
“I thought Temu was a scam. How the hell they got a Super Bowl commercial?” questioned a scoffer in a tweet with more than 160,000 views.
“Temu needs to stop [with] their ads, I still don’t trust ’em,” another doubter penned.
Equally suspicious sentiments were echoed beneath TikTok’s #Temu hashtag, which has millions of views online. While one faction of users debated whether it’s pronounced “Teh-mu” or “Tea-moo,” whistleblowers blasted the brand for hawking its allegedly “trash” products during football’s biggest night.
History of Temu
And unfortunately for Temu — launched in September 2022 via parent company PDD Holdings, which was founded in China as Pinduoduo in 2015 — accusations that it sells low-quality commodities persist.
Leanne Marley, a 49-year-old Florida mom, required 14 stitches after a “razor sharp” eyelet, which she claims was embedded inside a pair of $12 Temu boots, sliced into her foot in December.
She’s since vowed to “never” again shop the app after her allegations.
The company said it had launched an investigation into the incident and claimed the “product will remain suspended.”
“After reviewing the screenshots and other information provided, we identified and removed the shoe listing as a precautionary measure,” a spokesperson for the company said. “The safety and welfare of our customers are of paramount importance to us.”
“Temu’s rating with BBB is a C+ because of the 1,749 complaints filed against the business and the length of time the business has been operating,” Melanie McGovern, director of public relations and social media for the Better Business Bureau, told The Post.
“The BBB categorizes complaint details on our website,” she said, adding that “problems with product/service” make up a staggering 1,085 of the grievances.
“The company is fraudulent … The packages were both taped up lightly [on] both sides and it obviously broke [during] shipment,” one complaint to BBB reads. “When I tried to let the company know, they said too bad.”
“My clothes were stained and some clothes had holes in them,” another claimed.
“I had ordered multiple products from the website,” alleged an equally dissatisfied customer. “However, the products that were delivered were in poor condition, not meeting the expected standards of quality.”
Gripes over delivery issues, advertising, billing and warranty concerns also plague the e-merchant, shown throughout the BBB complaints.
But that’s not the worst of it.
Ties to the Chinese Communist Party?
A coalition of 11 GOP legislators, helmed by West Virginia Rep. Carol Miller, censured Temu for allegedly failing to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
The July 2021 bill imposes limits on importing goods produced using forced labor in China.
Miller even petitioned Paramount and CBS to ban Temu from airing its commercials during Sunday’s match.
“Why in the world would [the networks] want to promote a company that the [Chinese Communist Party] is basically linked to … when they are selling things online using forced labor,” Miller alleged to CNBC.
“The Super Bowl is America’s game. [Temu’s] products are illegally entering the United States market every single day … Temu should be accountable for the violation of our laws,” she further claimed.
Temu has denied the accusations of noncompliance, saying in a public statement: “Standards and practices surrounding the use of forced labor are no different from major e-commerce players like Amazon, eBay and Etsy, and the allegations are completely ungrounded.”
Cybersecurity experts have also questioned Temu over its privacy policy. USA Today reported that Pinduoduo not only tracks device info and activity, but allegedly integrates “malicious codes” that can “bypass cellphone security settings to spy on other apps, read notifications and messages and even change settings.” The company did not comment regarding these claims.
‘The risk … is worth the reward’
Controversies notwithstanding, pennywise patrons of the online shopping platform have seemingly taken a vow of loyalty to its orange logo.
In fact, a recent survey of 600 consumers via capital market firm Jefferies found that 56% of folks polled are proud Temu customers. A number of the devotees also revealed their plans to increase their spending on the site this year while cutting back on shopping with its competitors, such as Amazon, Target and Walmart.
And Heenan, for one, is happily hooked on Temu’s cost-friendly finds.
“The risk of the occasional low-quality product is worth the reward of so many great things available at amazing prices,” she said.
