Temu, one of PDD Holdings Shopping companies, has the most downloaded mobile app in the world thanks to their super bowl ads, but it isn’t just the super bowl ads; their super low prices and social media video sponsorships have also contributed to Temu’s astronomical success. But how did they make so much money? After all, they had 5 ads at the 2023 super bowl, which cost them $35.000.000, a hefty cost considering the company’s cheap prices.
Well in order to understand, we have to take a look at one of PDD Holding’s other companies, Pinduoduo, which at first might sound like a strange name, but it is in fact a Chinese company. Pinduoduo is Temu’s Chinese counterpart, selling their products at insanely low prices and advertising them to catch peoples’ attention. But unlike Temu, Pinduoduo had their app removed from the app store because of them selling users’ data illegally to the black market. The alarming part, other than the fact that it is still in business, is that the same 100 of that app’s developers made Temu’s app. So, Temu is under investigation, but there are many more problems that are even more serious.
Because selling users’ data doesn’t make them enough money, they skimp on their products’ quality as well as their employees’ working conditions- the pay is little, there are almost no breaks, and the hours are long, so long in fact that some employees have been working until 1:30 a.m. and one of them even died from it! And if all of that wasn’t enough, they also use many sweatshops to manufacture their products.
Although an investigation is taking place, it still isn’t enough to stop Temu’s unethical and illegal business practices.
By Dimitris Manolessos
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