Tim questioned after Super Bowl promo

Lifestyle

by asia grace

Taylor Swift's Super Bowl winning beau Travis Kelce may have won the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, but Temu scored the ultimate touchdown and became the night's “antihero” for skeptics.

Reminiscent of The Pied Piper, the Chinese e-commerce giant drove the Big Game's 123.4 million viewers to its site with its viral “Shop Like a Billionaire” jingle.

But detractors online say the lackluster content, accompanied by flashy animations in which shoppers buy everyday essentials on the app for prices as low as 99 cents, is a threat to privacy and product complaints from companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. I was concerned that this was just covering up the dark history of the city.

Mr. Tem, whose abbreviation stands for “Team Up, Prices Down,” did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment for this story.

“Oh my god, I love Tem.”

Unlike the nihilists, Heather Heenan, who has been an avid Temu buyer for the past six months, was pleasantly surprised by the retailer's championship game.

“When I saw the commercial come on during the Super Bowl, I thought, 'Oh my God, I love Tim,'” Heenan, 48, a lifestyle influencer who lives in Jackson Heights, told the Post. Told.

Queens economizers appreciate the site's bargain prices, which are definitely eye-catching.

On Friday afternoon, Temu's best sellers page for its spring savings sale featured wireless speakers for an incredible $10.48, vacuum cleaners for $13.48, and shower mats for an incredible 98 cents. All at a price worth boasting about.

That's why Heenan took to TikTok with cute “Tem Time” unboxing videos of cheap finds like Jalen Hurts' $15 knockoff football jersey and silver-plated rings she bought for less than $1 each. It's very busy.

“I think the advertising made the company seem legitimate to a lot of people,” Heenan said of the Super Bowl berth.

The company spent an estimated $21 million on three 30-second ad slots.

But the commercial onslaught clearly seems like money well spent.

Google Trends data reports a 1,139% spike in web searches for the Temu app during Sunday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. The Temu app already ranks as the #1 most downloaded iPhone application in the US, with 51 million monthly users. off, setting viewership records.

Virtual Hub's plug-in, which lets you get an HD camera drone for less than $20 and sterling silver earrings for $5, also reportedly outperformed blockbuster promotions featuring big stars like Ben Affleck and Beyoncé. ing.

“I thought Tem was a fraud.”

But some social media cynics didn't buy the too-good-to-be-true propaganda.

“I thought Tim was a fraud. How the hell did he get a Super Bowl commercial?” questioned the mocker in a tweet that has been viewed more than 160,000 times.

“Tem should stop.” [with] Their advertising, I still don’t trust them,” another doubter wrote.

Similar questionable sentiments were echoed under the #Temu hashtag on TikTok, which has millions of views online. While some factions of users debate whether it's pronounced 'tem' or 'teem', whistleblowers claim they're peddling allegedly 'rubbish' products during football's biggest night. criticized the brand.

history of tem

And unfortunately, Temu (founded in September 2022 through parent company PDD Holdings, founded in China as Pinduoduo in 2015) continues to face accusations of selling low-quality products.

Florida mother Leanne Marley, 49, required 14 stitches in December after her foot was slashed by a “razor-sharp” eyelet she claimed was embedded inside a $12 boot. .

She has since vowed never to shop on the app again following the accusations.

The company said it had launched an investigation into the incident and insisted that “the product remains suspended from sale.”

“After reviewing the screenshots and other information provided, we identified and removed the shoe listing as a precaution,” a company spokesperson said. “The safety and well-being of our customers is of paramount importance to us.”

“The BBB's rating for Temu is C+ due to the 1,749 complaints filed against the company and the length of its business operations,” said Better Business Bureau Public Relations and Social Media. director Melanie McGovern told the Post.

“The BBB categorizes complaint details on its website,” she said, adding that “product/service issues” accounted for a whopping 1,085 of the complaints.

“This company is a scam…Both packages were lightly taped.” [on] Both sides were obviously broken. [during] The complaint to the BBB states: “When I tried to inform the company, they said it was too bad.”

“My clothes were dirty and some of them had holes,” another woman claimed.

“I ordered multiple items from the website,” said another similarly dissatisfied customer. “However, the product delivered was in poor condition and did not meet the expected quality standards.”

Concerns about shipping issues, advertising, billing, and warranties also plague e-commerce merchants and are reflected in the overall BBB complaints.

But that's not the worst thing.

What is your relationship with the Chinese Communist Party?

A coalition of 11 Republicans, led by West Virginia Rep. Carol Miller, accused Mr. Tem of failing to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The July 2021 bill would impose restrictions on imports of goods produced using forced labor in China.

Miller petitioned Paramount and CBS to ban Tem's commercial from airing during Sunday's game.

“Why on earth is this happening? [the networks] I want to promote a company called [Chinese Communist Party] “It basically has to do with … using forced labor to sell things online,” Miller argued to CNBC.

“The Super Bowl is America's game. [Temu’s] “Products illegally enter the U.S. market every day… Mr. Temu should be held accountable for violating our laws,” she further asserted.

Mr Temu denied the accusations of non-compliance and said in a public statement: “Our standards and practices surrounding the use of forced labor are no different than those of major e-commerce companies such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, and the allegations are completely baseless.”

Cybersecurity experts have also raised questions about Temu's privacy policy. As reported by USA Today, Pinduoduo not only tracks your device information and activity, but also “bypasses your phone's security settings to spy on other apps, read your notifications and messages, and change your settings. It is said that it contains “malicious code'' that may cause the user to do something. The company has not commented on these claims.