Discount retailer Temu confirmed it is bringing its orange-hued value propositions back to the Super Bowl next year.
After weeks of speculation, the confirmation came as part of a lawsuit the retailer filed against chief rival Shein. In the lawsuit, Temu notes that Shein has been aggressive toward its merchants ahead of its next Super Bowl ad appearance.
“In the months leading up to Temu’s major upcoming advertising campaign for Super Bowl LVIII in February 2024 (bound to increase traffic to Temu’s app and website, just as a similar Temu campaign did in 2023), Shein has resorted to even more desperate and coercive measures, including physical detention of merchants who dare to work with Temu, personal threats, and illegal seizures of merchants’ personal devices to obtain access to the merchants’ Temu accounts and Temu’s confidential information and trade secrets,” Temu wrote in the complaint, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Watch Temu’s 2023 Super Bowl ad debut
Indeed, the Temu marketplace, which is based in Boston but owned by China-based PDD Holdings, has seen its U.S. awareness skyrocket following its debut in the Big Game last February, when it aired two 30-second spots to announce its arrival into the crowded retail market here. By March, the brand, pronounced “tee-moo,” became the most downloaded retail app in the country as consumers flocked to its $12 juicers and $8 sherpa-lined leggings. Interactive games to amplify discounts only served to further entice shoppers, eager for deals and weary of paying full price during a time of economic uncertainty.