A 30-second advertising slot at the Super Bowl is the world’s priciest piece of screen real estate. 

The world’s biggest brands plan their year around the marquee event, devoting their top creative minds and enlisting Hollywood celebrities to entertain the more than 100m viewers who tune in. Only the most recognised names in advertising need apply.

But this year, a shopping app that few people could pronounce, let alone had used, bought not one but two slots. Temu (pronounced “tee-moo”), invited people to “shop like a billionaire”, with an app selling clothing and household goods at seemingly impossible prices. The adverts cost the company a reported $14m (£11m) – the highest fee ever per second for a Super Bowl advert.

Temu launched in the US only last September but by February it had already risen to the top of Apple’s App Store. And after launching in the UK at the end of April, it has done the same, becoming Britain’s most-downloaded iPhone app over the past month. 

More than 7m Britons have installed Temu, according to data compiled by research company Sensor Tower. Globally, it has hit 117m downloads, making it one of the fastest-growing apps of all time. Monthly spending on the site has risen from an estimated $192m in January to $700m in June. Analysts at Tech Buzz China say total spending could hit $10bn this year – a sum it took Amazon 12 years to hit.

The vibrant orange plastic packaging that orders are wrapped in have become an increasingly common sight in delivery vans and on doorsteps. And social media is clogged with influencers posting their “Temu hauls” of imitation AirPods, extra strong magnets and 98p water bottles.