Temu, the bargain, e-commerce, too-good-to-be-true items merchant, has a strong relationship with Meta. According to the Wall Street Journal, it spent $2 billion alone on Facebook and Instagram ads. The outlet also claims that it was the number one advertiser by revenue for Meta. And when it comes to Google ads, Temu is not too shabby on that front either, as the WSJ report also names it as one of the platform’s top five advertisers.
While a Temu advertiser disputed this $2 billion sales figure, it also refused to disclose its exact spending to the outlet. But one event where their spending got especially elaborate was the Superbowl. This year, the game amassed over 123 million, and Temu certainly made the most of that, as Quartz reports that Temu had four 30-second advertisements — which, according to Ad Age, cost approximately $7 million each.
What is Temu?
With its relentless advertising, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Temu has been around longer than it has been — but it was only founded back in 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. On the Temu website, the company describes itself as “an e-commerce company that connects consumers with millions of merchandise partners, manufacturers and brands with the mission to empower them to live their best lives.”
This means that, in other words, Temu can save a lot of money by dispatching products directly from factories in China to consumers. By cutting out a middle-man, the company can save on expensive tariffs, which means that its resultant products are eye-wateringly cheap.
It’s worth noting that Temu doesn’t manufacture products itself, and this has caused issues for the company in the past because there’s no way of checking to see if it’s compliant with anti-forced labor laws. This means that the products they sell may well be the result of forced labor, so while it’s certainly cheap, there’s arguably a bigger price to pay for it all.
Image Credits: Photo by RoseBox رز باکس on Unsplash
