A frustrated shopper turned to Reddit's r/Anticonsumption forum to discuss the saturation of ads promoting Temu, an e-commerce site known for its cheap products. The company has recently sparked outrage among shoppers due to allegations of forced labor in China for order fulfillment, as the BBC reported in December.
"Getting a Temu ad under a video about Temu being bad, so sick of that company," wrote the Redditor who shared the photo.
Redditors expressed their annoyance at the company's relentless ads.
"The exact same happened to me," wrote one user.
"I've blocked so many ads from Temu that Google no longer lets me do it. I still get them," commented another user.
"My husband works for a small family owned business and he has to hunt through Temu to pull down listings that steal photos from his company and put them on listings. So he is definitely not a fan of Temu," wrote one Redditor.
Similar to Amazon, Temu is an online store that offers extreme discounts on its products. However, the low product prices at Temu allegedly come at high humanitarian and environmental costs.
The production and transportation of these cheap products use significant amounts of water, toxic chemicals, and dirty energy, polluting the planet and contributing to the globe's rising temperatures. A study from the Journal of Industrial Ecology revealed that the production of consumer goods accounts for 60% of planet-warming gases.
On top of using dirty energy to create and distribute these products, Temu encourages overconsumption, which only adds to the number of products that end up rotting in landfills. Companies with quick-turnover products have also been known to take advantage of labor practices. Temu outsources the production of its products to China, where labor laws are less strict, wages are lower, and hours are longer.
Shopping local and purchasing high-quality items that last long-term supports small businesses and reduces unnecessary purchases and excess waste. Another great way to shop more environmentally-conscious is to buy from brands committed to sustainability.
"I see it everywhere, I search for second-hand decorations on Google, the next minute when I'm on Instagram Temu home ads," wrote one Redditor.
"The app is unusable, it's like putting pop up ads and a slot machine into eBay or amazon. I now just use eBay and deleted Prime. I don't need all my things in 2 days," commented another user.
Editor's note: In a statement to The Cool Down, a Temu representative said the company "promotes sustainability" by collaborating with manufacturers to match demand and supply "so that unsold inventory and waste is minimized." It did not elaborate further on what these practices entail or how they have helped mitigate the company's impact on the planet. The spokesperson also said Temu complied with regulatory labor standards and that "the use of forced, penal, or child labor is strictly prohibited," although a 2023 Los Angeles Times report found products made in China's western province of Xinjiang, which are banned in the U.S. for "horrific abuses" against workers, for sale on the platform.
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