Chinese e-commerce giant PDD splashes on Super Bowl ad for its Temu U.S. shopping site

Temu, the U.S. shopping app owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings Inc., aired a commercial during the Super Bowl.

It is rare for a Chinese firm to buy a Super Bowl ad spot, which cost millions of dollars. But Temu's effort highlights its ambition to crack the U.S. e-commerce market, following in the footsteps of another Chinese online shopping company Shein.

The commercial, which aired Sunday during the first and third quarters of the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, is titled "Shop Like A Billionaire." It follows a young woman who is amazed at the cheap prices on clothing and accessories that Temu has to offer.

"The prices blow my mind. I feel so rich. I feel like a billionaire. I'm shopping like a billionaire," goes the ad's jingle.

Pinduoduo, which last week officially changed its name to PDD Holdings Inc, is one of China's biggest e-commerce companies rivaling the likes of Alibaba and JD.com. The company has tended to focus on lower-income consumers by offering heavily discounted products. And it has been focusing on bringing agricultural products, like vegetables, onto its platform to differentiate from rivals. The company is worth around $116 billion.

PDD Holdings Inc. quietly launched its cross-border shopping site Temu in the U.S. in September, CNBC reported. The app has quickly gained popularity and is ranked second on the Apple App Store and first on the Google Play store.

In the week through to Jan. 29, gross merchandise value, or the value of transactions on Temu, hit $46 million, a record high, according to market research firm YipitData.

Temu sells products in a number of categories from fashion to electronics. It is currently offering free shipping for a limited time as part of its Super Bowl promotion as well as what it calls "Game Day Deals."

Chinese e-commerce companies from Alibaba to JD.com and now PDD Holdings Inc. have looked to expand overseas in the past few years. PDD Holdings said on Monday that it would begin shipping to Canada this month.

But other technology firms are also eyeing a slice of the multi-trillion global e-commerce pie. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of short video app TikTok, launched a fashion website named If Yooou last year. It is currently shipping to the U.K., Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect when PDD Holdings Inc. officially changed its name