Creepy products labelled ‘Human meat’ advertised on Google and Temu

Online shoppers were left horrified after a Google ad for Temu appeared to promote “human meat” for sale, due to a reported error in the companies online advertising model

Online shoppers on Google were left scratching their eyes after reportedly being advertised “human meat” for sale on popular retail site Temu. The freaky advert was accompanied by an image of what appeared to be canned corned beef, however the description suggested shoppers would be receiving something a lot more sinister.

The same creepy “human meat” description also briefly featured on the Temu site itself, according to US magazine The Intelligencer. The Chinese retail company quickly removed the product from its site, claiming that the bizarre name was due to a “glitch in our automated ad system”, according to a company statement, possibly caused by search engine optimisation tools mistaking information meant to differentiate produce meant for humans from pet food.

There is no suggestion that any of the “human meat” listed products actually contained anything other than what was advertised.

Temu, which started out as selling cheap Chinese-manufactured goods around the world, has recently moved into the fresh food and grocery business in the US.

This shift was driven by new U.S. tariffs brought in by Donald Trump, forcing Temu to rely more on domestic warehouses and U.S.-based sellers.

The food selection includes pantry staples, shelf-stable snacks, international foods, store-brand items and raw meat such as steaks.

Explaining their move into fresh produce, Temu wrote: “Food sellers on the program are U.S.-based businesses fulfilling from U.S. inventory. Food has grown quickly since launch and includes everything from pantry staples to specialty and regional brands.”

Temu has been massively successful since its US launch in 2022, however the Chinese retail company has been met with a degree of controversy.

Last year, reports emerged Temu could be being used by the Chinese government to monitor American citizens.

Kleanthi Sardeli, data protection lawyer at Noyb said: “Chinese companies have no choice but to comply with government requests for access to data. Given that China is an authoritarian surveillance state, it is crystal clear that China doesn’t offer the same level of data protection as the EU. Transferring Europeans’ personal data is clearly unlawful – and must be terminated immediately.”

This means that European users’ data is at risk as long as it’s sent abroad. The competent authorities must act quickly to protect the fundamental rights of the people concerned.

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