#i keep seeing the temu super bowl commercial

[shellxrls]

hear me out but i swear jj maybank wld be the no.1 temu warrior 😭😭.

“babe, babe, this only what — 90 cents, 90 cents!”

and you’re just there like 🧍🏽‍♀️.

”jayj they have tons of lawsuits against them sweetheart, maybe it’s better to invest your money elsewhere?” for fear of him getting broker than he already is with the way he seems so eager to spend.

[nickgerlich]

One For The Team

Maybe you saw their commercial during the Super Bowl. More than likely you have stumbled over their ads in your social news feeds. The odds are good that you have at least heard of them, even if you haven’t shopped there yet. Their tag line? “Shop like a billionaire.” And Temu has surpassed Amazon, Walmart, and Target put together as the most-downloaded app.



Temu (pronounced “tee-moo”) is the new online shopping site that wants to give Amazon a run for its money. And just like Jeff Bezos upset the apple cart back in 1995 when Amazon launched, Temu, which debuted in September 2022, aims to do the same with its rock-bottom prices, and by eliminating a middleman along the way.

Temu is based in Boston, but is owned by PDD Holdings, a company based in Shanghai China.  PDD also owns Pinduoduo, one of the most successful e-commerce companies there. Items are shipped directly from Chinese vendors, instead of relying on US warehousing and shipping.

In three short paragraphs, I have already tossed out several potential red flags that should give would-be customers pause:



a) ridiculously low prices b) Chinese-owned c) Chinese-made d) overseas shipping



In the era of TikTok bans by more than half of US states, worries about weather balloons, quality, data, 7-15-day arrival times, and…I could go on, but I won’t…I can see this one having a tough time gaining traction right now. And yet they are aggressively pursuing us. I can’t go a day without seeing them in my feed, and now the media have latched onto them as well. 



There is no doubt that PDD is cash-rich. Their $7 million ad on the Super Bowl is testament to that, not to mention the 8900 ad placements on Facebook and Instagram. They clearly want to make a splash.



But will people take the bait? I realize that low prices, especially during a period of high inflation, can be appealing, at least on the surface. But even though we have all embraced—willingly or not—the idea of Made In China products in our homes and on our bodies, will we provide our personal information and credit card numbers to buy things more or less directly from a company that is clearly tethered to a nation we don’t exactly trust very much?

I am not one for conspiracy theories, but I can see how skeptics might think that both TikTok and Temu are the new Trojan horse, and not a lot unlike that balloon. It’s just that these are more subtle, because they offer entertainment and shopping, yet manage to get their foot in the door. Lots of doors. And maybe more than just their foot.



Of course, you may also be wondering how Chinese fast-fashion purveyor Shein (pronounced “she-in”) fits into this. Shein is a competitor to Temu and Pinduoduo, and offers similarly low prices for what is arguably disposable clothing. But hey, you’ll look good for one or two nights of clubbing.

I could be wrong on all of this. Maybe Temu is for real, and everything will turn out OK in the long-run. Maybe Amazon will be forced to react, although their 2-day shipping and easy returns are hard to beat. What are you going to do if that dress doesn’t fit just right, or the sunglasses you bought fell apart the first time you wore them? Send them back to China? Good luck with that.



You see, we really have no problem with buying Chinese-made products. That ship sailed long ago. It’s just that we have American filters in place, like Amazon, to—we hope—properly vet and manage everything. They ostensibly keep us safe from those Trojan horses and balloons.

Color me wary. I’m watching and waiting, but I am in no hurry to go shopping just yet. Besides, I really don’t want to shop like a billionaire, much less be one.

Dr “Amazon Is Good Enough For Me“ Gerlich

Audio Blog