S08.E12: Naturally Perfect Dolls, PDX Pet Design, Basic Outfitters, Victory Coffees

[yeswedo]

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A couple from Homestead, Florida, had their young daughters in mind when they created a line of dolls that look like them: beautiful girls of color; a cat-loving couple from Portland, Oregon, hope the Sharks will paw their way into their innovative cat companion products, which includes a device to intimately groom your cat just like a mama cat; a husband and wife team from New York have a one-stop online shop for replacing men's outworn undergarments with affordable, high-quality new ones; and a former Navy SEAL from Austin, Texas, comes into the Tank hoping to walk out with a deal to take his patriotic coffee business nationwide. Also, a follow-up with Drain Strain, which Robert Herjavec invested in during season 6.

[starri]

I'm guessing the underwear is Mack Weldon, and I'm going to further guess that they're seeking a 15 minute segment in exchange for free publicity. 

[Primetimer]

We almost spend an entire episode of Shark Tank without anyone getting any money of any sort. Did everyone leave their wallets back in 2016?

View the full article

[bilgistic]

Did you know the Victory Coffee guy is a veteran? Because he's a veteran. He really likes coffee. And also, he's a veteran.

[WhosThatGirl]

I love cats but it's not as adorable as When the not Bark Box puppy box people brought in puppies. Sorry but true.

[Jamoche]

"One toy, the Shrue, is a motorized ball your cat chases around."

Aha! That's where I saw this before - I Kickstarted the Shru, which isn't bad for a Kickstarter project, and they sent all the backers an email about this. Which I reacted to about the same way the Sharks did.

They should've gone with a second-gen Shru that has some sort of motion detector; the way it works now is that it'll randomly activate about once an hour. If the cat is nearby and ready to be in active mode, great! But cats also activate randomly about once an hour, and the two of them seldom overlap.

[LotusFlower]

I love that Daymond made the deal with the multi-ethnic doll couple contingent on 10% going to a charity.  Has that ever happened before?

[chocolatine]

4 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Did you know the Victory Coffee guy is a veteran? Because he's a veteran. He really likes coffee. And also, he's a veteran.

The way he kept talking about it, I fully expected him to say that a small percentage of profits would be dedicated to initiatives that support veterans. That would have been the USP for his business. But without that his is just one of many unremarkable coffee brands.

1 hour ago, LotusFlower said:

I love that Daymond made the deal with the multi-ethnic doll couple contingent on 10% going to a charity.  Has that ever happened before?

I've never actually heard of a percentage of equity going to a charity, only percentages of profits. I did like the couple and their kids, and their dolls looked high-quality, so I'm glad they got a deal.

[BusyOctober]

So no one is going to mention the tongue brush?  I don't have cats and I'm not a big fan of them myself, so maybe I'm alone in thinking that was just beyond weird.  If I hadn't seen the first few minutes of their intro about being cat toy makers, I would have thought those two were showing the Sharks some new accessory for another niche market....Plushies.  I can see that brush being a big hit with fetish people who dress up in animal costumes. 

The dolls were very cute and looked well made.  I like the message, and the idea of using more ethnically authentic features and hair.  Just because Mattel can change the skin and hair colors on Barbie or the American Girl dolls does not make the doll "look like me". 

Re. the coffee guy...there's a new coffee shop in my city that is owned & run by 2 vets.  They did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They hire vets and military spouses/dependents, and a portion of their profits goes to local veterans groups.  Their place is doing really well and has started hosting live music, open mics and art shows, again donating proceeds to local charities.  People are flocking there vs. Starbucks down the street, even for orders to go.  I think Cade from the show was right re. not underestimating the patriotism of the public.  However I also think going into a huge and crowded market with a new coffee brand is a tough sell. I wasn't surprised he walked out of the tank without a deal.

Underwear couple really screwed themselves before they even showed up at the studio.  The equity they personally had rights/had available to offer was a total of 25%, so if they got a deal for 15-20%, they'd be left with virtually nothing.  If the company took off as they hoped, I guess 5-10% of a multimillion corp is better than zero.  But those two should have known the Sharks would never go into a deal with a minority owner.

[hkit]

8 hours ago, Jamoche said:

"One toy, the Shrue, is a motorized ball your cat chases around."

Aha! That's where I saw this before - I Kickstarted the Shru, which isn't bad for a Kickstarter project, and they sent all the backers an email about this. Which I reacted to about the same way the Sharks did.

They should've gone with a second-gen Shru that has some sort of motion detector; the way it works now is that it'll randomly activate about once an hour. If the cat is nearby and ready to be in active mode, great! But cats also activate randomly about once an hour, and the two of them seldom overlap.

Would you recommend the Shru? My cats would love it, but the price tag seems steep. I have no words for the Licky. That's batshit insane, and I say this as a bonafide crazy cat lady who is contemplating a $120 toy for my bratty cats.

I'm growing bored of Mark Cuban's over the top eye rolls, face palms, and other "ham it up for the cameras" reactions during pitches. The only saving grace for him this episode is he seemed to be as fed up with "being a vet is my value proposition" as I am. 

[basiltherat]

Those cat people (are they people who want to be cats?) are why non-cat people think cats are in league with the devil.  What other creatures can make humans act like idiots?  Dogs rule, cats drool, and cat people lick up their drool.  Discuss.

The veteran angle to a product/company only works if the vet angle is the hook and not the entire reason for being.  What differentiates that coffee from all the others?  Is it a different blend or a different source?  No to both, they use the same roaster as others.  They just slap their own label on it.  Too bad, because people do like to support vets whenever possible.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

So no one is going to mention the tongue brush?  

I would totally buy this as a gag gift for my brother and sister-in-law.  They are obsessed with their cats.  

[cooksdelight]

The cat licker thing told me without a doubt that those two people are nuts. Especially the guy, did you see the way he posed with those cat ears on his head? I have two cats, I groom them with a brush. They love the brush. Stand in line waiting their turn for a grooming. But if I whipped out a cat licker, I think they'd both run for the hills.

Underwear people scared me. Especially the woman, she runs that team. He kept looking to her for what to say next. And I swear, I am pretty sure she takes him to her salon to have his eyebrows groomed.

I have almost a dozen retired or active veterans in my immediate family. No, I am not going to buy your coffee just because you're a veteran, sorry. I'm stuck on Starbuck's Pike Place. As someone said above, if every purchase of the coffee contributed something to the veterans PTSD needs, I'd buy a case. But there was no incentive to buy it.

I'm so glad Damond gave the doll couple a deal. I can see that becoming a very popular line once they get the price way, way down.

[Katmai]

I didn't see this episode, but came here to check out what products were pitched. My first thought in reading about the cat item where you can "groom your cat just like a mama cat" was it was designed for people who have rescued kittens that have to be syringe or bottle-fed. When kittens that young don't have a mama cat to do her thing to them, the rescuers have to stimulate them so they'll go to the bathroom, and the mama cat does that by licking their privates. I thought that was ok until I read the licky tongue is made to be used on your tongue. No, that's too much even when trying to save kittens, in my book. And all of this was in my mind due to the fact we recently rescued a two-day old kitten and had to do these things to him (he's now 4 months old and a force to be reckoned with).  Boy, was I wrong in my first thought, now I agree with the poster about it could be for the fetish crowd.

[Jamoche]

5 hours ago, hkit said:

Would you recommend the Shru? My cats would love it, but the price tag seems steep. I have no words for the Licky. That's batshit insane, and I say this as a bonafide crazy cat lady who is contemplating a $120 toy for my bratty cats.

$120? Whoa. It was $30 on the Kickstarter - ah, they say that was the production cost. Nice margins on that.

No, as a $30 prototype toy it's fine, and I might go $60 if the motion sensor lived up to my expectations, but not $120. The usual pattern of play is: I charge it. I see the cat, turn it on, and she plays with it. Over the next 24 hours it does its little chirp-and-move routine every hour or so, but the cat is only there to notice it maybe once or twice. Occasionally she bats it around when it isn't active - this is where the motion sensor ought to kick in and make it active again. And for $120 I'd want a way to make it chirp on demand so I could find it when it's been batted under the furniture, like those Tile tags.

 

My cat *hates* being brushed. If my face were that close to her while I brushed her, I'd be risking my eyes at the very least.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Jamoche

[starri]

7 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

So no one is going to mention the tongue brush?  I don't have cats and I'm not a big fan of them myself, so maybe I'm alone in thinking that was just beyond weird.

No, I'm a cat person and I thought those two were insane.  I love my cat, but I don't LOVE my cat.  The thing is, I might have gotten one of the other items, but I can't give my money to such weirdos.

This might just be my big, stupid liberal heart, but I really, really liked the doll couple.  Like, Daymond wanted to make sure everyone was an equal partner, but still wanting the business to do good.  That's why he's my favorite.

I'm pretty sure Coffee Sniper's insurance company deal is with USAA.  Also, would a sniper really be into caffeine jitters?  Also, I'm a bad American.  I also continue to hate businesses (especially MALE OWNED BUSINESSES) that co-opt Rosie the Riveter for their marketing purposes.

You know, for people who say they're sitting on so much inventor, Basic Outfitters really doesn't have a lot of products available.  I checked them out, because I was thinking that I could load up on underwear, but you at most get a three-pack in each category, so you can get all those items, but only one set from each category.  And then I saw the stupid business decisions.  Perhaps not.

[rose711]

I would definitely go to a place that sold coffee that was run by veterans. I think that is a solid selling point. I like supporting local businesses that employ local people. Im sure I'm not alone. I would buy products from them too.
( I find Starbucks coffee extremely bitter and overpriced anyway but I also am not a Starbucks fan. Our local Starbucks has mediocre service and food as well. )

Near my sister's house in Virginia is a coffee shop that is staffed and run by a charity that trains and employs mentally disabled people. We would go there anyway because the food is good but the idea that it supports people who need jobs is an extra incentive.

[rose711]

I had a longer comment that didn't post.
Just want to say I would definitely buy coffee from a place run by veterans. It's a good idea and I think they could be successful. I would go there over Starbucks every day of the week.

[columbot]

9 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Re. the coffee guy...there's a new coffee shop in my city that is owned & run by 2 vets.  They did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They hire vets and military spouses/dependents, and a portion of their profits goes to local veterans groups.  Their place is doing really well and has started hosting live music, open mics and art shows, again donating proceeds to local charities.  People are flocking there vs. Starbucks down the street, even for orders to go.  I think Cade from the show was right re. not underestimating the patriotism of the public.  However I also think going into a huge and crowded market with a new coffee brand is a tough sell. I wasn't surprised he walked out of the tank without a deal.

Sounds like people flock there because of the live music, open mics, and art shows, not because of the veteran angle.

[cooksdelight]

If it said somewhere on the coffee that a portion goes to help vets, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. But he didn't have that as part of his pitch.... or did I miss that part?

[chocolatine]

4 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

If it said somewhere on the coffee that a portion goes to help vets, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. But he didn't have that as part of his pitch.... or did I miss that part?

Nope, he never said anything about supporting other vets. I kept waiting for him to say it, since he made a big deal about being a vet himself, but it never came.

[bilgistic]

This isn't the same thing, but he said he eventually wanted to open stores selling his coffee and employ only vets, but the Sharks cut him off, saying he was "trying to do too much". I think the "eventual" goal is the better-than-current plan. Open one store, make coffee with his "special" roast, and sell it by the bag. Expand if successful. He may not get rich or sell in Walmart, but I don't think he's going to do that with his current plan, either.

To my knowledge, there are no veteran-owned coffee shops in my sizeable conservative city. The bankers with their 2.5 kids would flock to it.

[leighdear]

The cat lick thing confuses me.   The woman said something like "brush with the grain" of the cat's fur.  But you would have to hold a cat upside down for your licking motion of the brush to go in the right direction.  You could clearly see that Robert couldn't hold the cat properly and brush it in the right direction. 

Totally idiotic to me, and I spend plenty on my cat.   Next.  

[ClareWalks]

5 minutes ago, leighdear said:

The cat lick thing confuses me.   The woman said something like "brush with the grain" of the cat's fur.  But you would have to hold a cat upside down for your licking motion of the brush to go in the right direction.  You could clearly see that Robert couldn't hold the cat properly and brush it in the right direction. 

Bingo. That cat brush was one of the most fucked-up products ever on this show. 

[Jamoche]

45 minutes ago, leighdear said:

The cat lick thing confuses me.   The woman said something like "brush with the grain" of the cat's fur.  But you would have to hold a cat upside down for your licking motion of the brush to go in the right direction.  You could clearly see that Robert couldn't hold the cat properly and brush it in the right direction. 

Totally idiotic to me, and I spend plenty on my cat.   Next.  

I did extensive research (two youtube videos of kittens) and confirmed what I thought - mama cats do not care what direction kittens are facing when they get licked. They just pin them down and lick them, ignoring all protests. Of course they have fur to protect them from the outraged kitten, and I don't.

ETA - and on their Kickstarter updates, we get this: 

Not all cat people are nuts, really!

Edited January 8, 2017 by Jamoche

[Spunkygal]

I would have sworn that the underwear couple were brother and sister until they said they were married. I have never seen a married couple resemble each other SO much!

[Jamoche]

2 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I would have sworn that the underwear couple were brother and sister until they said they were married. I have never seen a married couple resemble each other SO much!

Maybe they met on eHarmony!

[LittleIggy]

I first saw that Licky thing on Jimmy Fallon's show (yes, it was mocked!), and thought "what kind of an idiot would think that up?" Now I know! I have three cats and no way would I ever buy that!

Did the coffee guy say he was a veteran? I can't remember. ;-)

[annewithaneee]

I usually struggle with my annoyance when a vet is trotted out as a token on a show, and feel guilty for being so put off by it, but not here. Maybe it was nerves and inexperience, but his pitch boiled down to "we provide the same thing, at the same cost, as our competitors, but I'm a veteran so money, please!" And as others have said, none of his emphasis was on giving back to veterans, other than by hiring. What about a special roast where proceeds go to Wounded Warriors? Hell, what about making an emphasis on employing disabled vets? Or something as simple as the packaging and marketing -- pay vets to submit unique artwork for labels inspired by their stories, use images of your employees rather than a sexy Halloween Rosie the Riveter (uuuuugh). It was a transparent, lazy cash grab and especially in our current climate I'm not fucking here for it. If I'm going to buy purely according to my patriotism, it's way more likely to be from immigrants and refugees.

 

I was so happy for the doll couple! They got the right Shark, and the right deal. I did wish they made it more clear who their competition is. To me, Barbie's diversity initiative isn't a threat because that's a very different kind of doll. This was an American Girl rival, and a damn good one. And even at their current high price point, they're still cheaper. I do hope they expand into different facial features (especially eyes -- there's a lot of multicultural girls out there who won't see themselves in those large, rounded eyes) and lean more on the affirmation elements in accessories rather than advertising beauty brands. 

[starri]

14 hours ago, rose711 said:

Just want to say I would definitely buy coffee from a place run by veterans. It's a good idea and I think they could be successful. I would go there over Starbucks every day of the week.

What if the coffee sucks?  All the dude had was a roast that wasn't specific to him, even if it's recommended by 3 out of 5 sharks.

[TVZina]

Of course the cat people are from Portland.

[PRgal]

My only problem with the multi-ethnic dolls was that they didn't have the variety they COULD have.  None of the dolls look like what *I* looked like as a child.  In other words, none of the dolls on display were Asian.  That's not REALLY "multi-ethnic" to me.

Edited January 8, 2017 by PRgal

[cooksdelight]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

My only problem with the multi-ethnic dolls was that they didn't have the variety they COULD have.  None of the dolls look like what *I* looked like as a child.  In other words, none of the dolls on display were Asian.  That's not REALLY "multi-ethnic" to me.

They said they were going to develop Asian, Native American and other cultural dolls once they got the funding.

[Jesse]

15 hours ago, annewithaneee said:

I was so happy for the doll couple! They got the right Shark, and the right deal. I did wish they made it more clear who their competition is. To me, Barbie's diversity initiative isn't a threat because that's a very different kind of doll. This was an American Girl rival, and a damn good one. And even at their current high price point, they're still cheaper. I do hope they expand into different facial features (especially eyes -- there's a lot of multicultural girls out there who won't see themselves in those large, rounded eyes) and lean more on the affirmation elements in accessories rather than advertising beauty brands. 

Barbie and American Girl are both owned by Mattel, so it's still the same corporate behemoth to go up against, though. 

Those cat licker people are idiotic, if they didn't realize that going viral and not getting sales out of it means that people were just laughing at them.

[rhys]

I hate cats so you can probably imagine how disturbing that cat couple was to me. I read "dear Abby" or "Ann landers" today & I thought of this cat couple.

[PRgal]

56 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

They said they were going to develop Asian, Native American and other cultural dolls once they got the funding.

I understand that, but they were already marketing the dolls as multi-ethnic when they weren't all that "multi" to a lot of people.  It's like calling a line of dolls "size-diverse" when you only have very skinny and curvy-ish to choose from (the "new" line of Barbies with short, tall, plus sized and "traditional" are, on the other hand, "size-diverse").  It's kind of a pet peeve of mine.

[PepperMonkey]

Daymond is my favourite, too.

I missed the doll pitch, but I'm glad he was on the panel the week they came to ask for money.

I'm always skeptical of "buy from me or help me BECAUSE I'm a veteran." I thought the same thing many of you thought: that he was going to say he would only employ disabled vets or proceeds from one of the "brands" would go 100% to disabled veterans or the wounded warrior project, but no. There was something shady about him (IMHO, if you please!) so I went to look him up to see if he actually was a Seal and his bio seems to check out. Also, he was wounded in action if all of that is true (during training, but still), so wow, the perfect opportunity to help someone else and nothing. He was a teevee host on a Mark Burnett program on Discovery for a while, so he doesn't have any contacts from that? Also, hated the overly sexy Rosie the Riveter caricature, although I did laugh when she threw the handful of pods at him.

I'm not sure what the underwear people were thinking. They've done no homework on these sharks at all if they thought someone was going to buy into that when they found out the specs. Oh wait, someone almost did: Lori. At least she came to her senses at the last minute.

Edited January 8, 2017 by PepperMonkey

[hkit]

8 minutes ago, PepperMonkey said:

 

I'm always skeptical of "buy from me or help me BECAUSE I'm a veteran." 

Really, it's time to start calling this out. He was no different than the "we can do this because WE'RE MOMS" idiots from a few weeks back. 

By all means, I'm grateful for the individuals who chose to make a personal sacrifice to serve our country, but that gratitude ends when I feel manipulated. And this dude was manipulative AF. 

[Jesse]

4 hours ago, PepperMonkey said:

I'm not sure what the underwear people were thinking. They've done no homework on these sharks at all if they thought someone was going to buy into that when they found out the specs. Oh wait, someone almost did: Lori. At least she came to her senses at the last minute.

I'm sure the publicity was worth it anyway....

[Lola16]

If the drawer refill people can get their initial investors to dilute their shares, why not? We've seen that before. All these deals are contingent on fact checking. So Lori could have made the deal and if the initial investors refused to give from their shares,  no deal. The wife got greedy and blew the deal.

[MrSmith]

On 1/7/2017 at 3:15 PM, starri said:

I'm pretty sure Coffee Sniper's insurance company deal is with USAA.  Also, would a sniper really be into caffeine jitters?  Also, I'm a bad American.  I also continue to hate businesses (especially MALE OWNED BUSINESSES) that co-opt Rosie the Riveter for their marketing purposes.

OMG. I hated that girl/lady dressed up to invoke Rosie the Riveter. I told my wife she looked a lot more like Polly the Pole-dancing Pornstar. I hated her from the moment she appeared on screen and I knew right away it was going to be some stupid veteran-owned "business".

On 1/7/2017 at 11:38 PM, annewithaneee said:

I usually struggle with my annoyance when a vet is trotted out as a token on a show, and feel guilty for being so put off by it, but not here. Maybe it was nerves and inexperience, but his pitch boiled down to "we provide the same thing, at the same cost, as our competitors, but I'm a veteran so money, please!" And as others have said, none of his emphasis was on giving back to veterans, other than by hiring. What about a special roast where proceeds go to Wounded Warriors? Hell, what about making an emphasis on employing disabled vets? Or something as simple as the packaging and marketing -- pay vets to submit unique artwork for labels inspired by their stories, use images of your employees rather than a sexy Halloween Rosie the Riveter (uuuuugh). It was a transparent, lazy cash grab and especially in our current climate I'm not fucking here for it. If I'm going to buy purely according to my patriotism, it's way more likely to be from immigrants and refugees.

His pitch was terrible. As soon as I heard "organic" and "fair trade", I knew it would be way over-priced shitty coffee, since both "organic" and "fair trade" increase the prices independently from one another. I can't imagine what it will cost when you're applying both of those economic levers. And when he said he's sourcing from Central America, South America, Africa, and Sumatra, it made me wonder about the consistency of the flavor of his coffee since the growing conditions in each of those places are so very different from one another. Finally, when he admitted he wasn't even getting a roast that's unique to him, then both my wife and I wondered what was the entire point of him even going into business?

Personally, I'm sick of people trying to sell me shit because they're a veteran, know a veteran, or work with a veterans group. I was in the Naval Reserve and so never active duty (one of many mistakes in my life that I wish I could correct), and I know that active duty personnel make serious sacrifices (Reserve personnel do when they're activated, but not so much the rest of the time in my opinion). However, the fact is that they were not forced to make those sacrifices. They chose a career where they know this from the outset. So, as far as I'm concerned, they're not owed any more than a "thank you for your service", quality healthcare (instead of the horror stories coming out of the VA in recent years), and the government benefits to which they're entitled based on their service. That said, if someone like this guy opened a coffee shop near me and had good coffee, I would choose to patronize them over Caribou Coffee because they're locally owned - not because they're veteran owned.

[Eolivet]

So, Shark Tank has clearly become like later season American Idol -- a few solid products, but mostly producers scrambling to fill time, so fake/joke/here-for-publicity products take up the rest of the time.

Licky-Brush, "no equity underwear" and Veterans Coffee Inc., were the entrepeneur versions of crazy costumed person with a crush on one of the judges, person who messes up their song three times and asks to start over, and overconfident high school kid who was the lead in everything and just needs more experience.

By the time the doll company came on, it was like "Oh, finally -- someone who can sing in tune, has a pleasant personality and a modicum of stage presence. Yes, here's your golden ticket!"

Is the doll company going to make the proverbial Shark Tank top 10? No way -- they're probably a mid-Hollywood round cut (money-wise). But they had a good business and good business sense, so "Welcome to Hollywood, baby!" ::Randy Jackson clapping::

(I realize this makes Scrub Daddy the Carrie Underwood of Shark Tank in this analogy, which is a really weird image.)

[needschocolate]

I learn so much from Shark Tank.  For instance, I never knew that part of the Navy Seal sniper training was learning the ins and outs of the coffee industry.

$60 for 18 items sounds like a good deal, until you realize that 9 pairs of socks is 18 items.  In the age of online ordering, is replacing your dingy underthings really that big of a deal? Heck, you could do a subscription thing with Amazon and get new underwear on a regular basis.  But I am a woman and don't know much about the apparent hassle it is to buy men's under clothes (my husband, stoic he-man that he is, never complains about underwear buying). However, if we assume for a moment that it is some sort of major ordeal to go to the store to buy underwear and socks, it is really any simpler to choose the pack that fits your needs from this company?

Was it the Underwear Lady who gave her husband a pep talk before coming out.? Maybe it was the Cat Lady, although she would have probably just purred a little and gave him some catnip.  Either way, that was kind of weird

I think the Cat Guy showed his hand when he mentioned the part about how many orders they will get from their appearance on the show - I don't think they wanted a deal, they wanted free publicity.  

When the doll people came out I thought it was another set of parents trying to convince everyone that they have a solution for a problem that exists only in their minds, but they weren't the wacky parents I expected them to be.  I haven't shopped for dolls in a long time, I would have thought that dolls would have gotten more diverse by now.  If they are all still white and blond, then their idea is a worthy one and I am glad they got a deal.  

However, I hope there have been great strides in the manufacturing of doll hair.  Every doll I have ever known with hair ends up with dreadlocks within a few weeks of being played with (except for the yarn hair on cabbage patch dolls). 

On 1/7/2017 at 1:15 PM, starri said:

No, I'm a cat person and I thought those two were insane.  I love my cat, but I don't LOVE my cat.  The thing is, I might have gotten one of the other items, but I can't give my money to such weirdos.

Or ... "I love my cat, but I don't LICK my cat." 

9 hours ago, Eolivet said:

So, Shark Tank has clearly become like later season American Idol -- a few solid products, but mostly producers scrambling to fill time, so fake/joke/here-for-publicity products take up the rest of the time.

Licky-Brush, "no equity underwear" and Veterans Coffee Inc., were the entrepeneur versions of crazy costumed person with a crush on one of the judges, person who messes up their song three times and asks to start over, and overconfident high school kid who was the lead in everything and just needs more experience.

By the time the doll company came on, it was like "Oh, finally -- someone who can sing in tune, has a pleasant personality and a modicum of stage presence. Yes, here's your golden ticket!"

Is the doll company going to make the proverbial Shark Tank top 10? No way -- they're probably a mid-Hollywood round cut (money-wise). But they had a good business and good business sense, so "Welcome to Hollywood, baby!" ::Randy Jackson clapping::

(I realize this makes Scrub Daddy the Carrie Underwood of Shark Tank in this analogy, which is a really weird image.)

Nice analogy.  You could say that the pitch was off for a few of them (although no one was really "pitchy")

[RemoteControlFreak]

Coffee veteran guy was offensive.  I get it.  He's a veteran and he put his life on the line.  But I don't want to be harangued about how he risked his life for me so I better buy his stupid coffee.  And trotting out a sexified Rosie the Riveter isn't helping. 

[guilfoyleatpp]

7 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

Coffee veteran guy was offensive.  I get it.  He's a veteran and he put his life on the line.  But I don't want to be harangued about how he risked his life for me so I better buy his stupid coffee.  And trotting out a sexified Rosie the Riveter isn't helping. 

Oh god, that Rosie.  WTF. I was like "ok, she's clearly supposed to be Rosie, but other than the red theme to her shorts outfit, nothing about her looks like Rosie."

I found that offensive. I know they bring out cute girls for cheesecake, but you really need to commit to that plan!  It seemed half assed.

[galaxychaser]

On 1/7/2017 at 8:56 PM, Spunkygal said:

I would have sworn that the underwear couple were brother and sister until they said they were married. I have never seen a married couple resemble each other SO much!

Maybe they are first cousins? Arranged marriage? Their idea is great except they don't own most of the company.

cat brush just no. 

The coffee I would buy if I saw it in a store.