At least laughter is good for the sole.
A couple was left in stitches after receiving a ridiculous pair of knock-off Disney socks from Temu.
Emilie Fernstrom had ordered her family what she thought were pairs of cute Disney-themed socks with some of the brand’s iconic characters’ faces stitched on the side ahead of their vacation to the theme park, her husband, John, shared in a viral TikTok clip.
The cheap-o socks from the Chinese e-commerce giant initially seemed normal when she first opened them and saw the characters’ faces on the leg of the socks.
But on the bottom, the couple was shocked to find hilarious misspellings of their names.
“We got Chip, he’s so cute right?” said John Fernstromsaid, showing the smiling chipmunk stitched on the sock. “But you flip it over, and oh — that’s Chib.”
“Then you’ve got Mickey Mouse, he’s looking a little derpy but you can still tell it’s Mickey. But according to them, he’s ‘Miikey.’ Next you’ve got his friend Minnie, she looks good — Oh, nope, that’s ‘Mimnee,’” he said.
The spelling of the characters’ names were not even close on the final two pairs.
Donald Duck was rebranded as “Tonaid” and Winnie the Pooh’s small pal Piglet was miraculously changed to “Bigeet.”
“This is why you should never order products from Temu,” John said in the video, which received more than 14 million views over four days.
Social media users seemed to get as big a kick out of the socks as the Fernstroms.
“This is EXACTLY why you order from Temu. I bought Pepsi socks once and they came saying ‘peepi’. They’re my favorite,” one user commented.
Another said they were suddenly feeling the “need to buy these exact socks from Temu.”
However, the company has apparently gotten cold feet over the socks, with a spokesperson telling The Mirror that they’ve been pulled from its website to avoid any legal repercussions from Disney.
Temu “prioritizes intellectual property (IP) protection” and regularly removes listings that appear to imitate other brands, the spokesperson said.
“When we receive reports of infringement, we promptly investigate each case and take decisive actions, which can include removing product listings and images, or even terminating vendor accounts for serious violations,” the company added.
Shares of Temu’s parent PDD Holdings plummeted nearly 30% on Aug. 26 after company warned its revenue will likely keep sliding amid intensifying competition in the fast-fashion sector.
PDD co-founder Lei Chen emphasized the company’s current growth was not sustainable as it battles competitors that included Shein, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alibaba for budget-conscious shoppers.
“High revenue growth is not sustainable, and a downward trend in profitability is inevitable,” Chen said.
Temu is facing increased scrutiny from the European Union, which is working to plug an import tax loophole that allows companies like Temu and Shein to ship lightweight goods bought online for a low cost.
