Sean Riley, Ryan Meegan, and Jeff Klimkowski, collectively known as “the Dudes,” pitch Dude Wipes, their line of men’s disposable wipes, in Shark Tank episode 706. A fourth partner, Brian Wilkin, doesn’t appear on the show. The idea for Dude Wipes came about when the Dudes were in college; they used baby wipes with their toilet paper. The Dudes realized there wasn’t a wipe being marketed to adult males. In 2012, they produced their first run of products and promptly sold out.
Since then, Dude Wipes received a lot of good press. Dude Wipes won a 2013 Visionary Award at the Vision 2013 Consumer Products Conference. They’ve also been featured on MTV, in Maxim and other men’s publications.
Dude Wipes are unscented, flushable, biodegradable, and contain Vitamin E & aloe. They create buzz by changing their packaging for each production run. The packages contain Tweets from their Twitter fans. Dude Wipes are available online at Amazon and in August, 2015 they were picked up by Kroger’s, Ralph’s, Fry’s Food Stores, King Soopers, Smith’s, and Dillon’s. You’ll find Dude Wipes in the toilet paper aisle.
The Dudes probably want a Shark to help with ramping up production and open new doors for distribution. Will they clean up with a Shark?
Dude Wipes Shark Tank Recap
Sean, Ryan, and Jeff enter the Tank seeking $300k for 10% of Dude Wipes. They say your ass hates you for using just toilet paper all these years! They explain how they made the first wipes for dudes and that they’re safe for “all dude regions.”
Lori BEGS Robert not to go up and demo the product! The Dudes hand out samples and explain it’s a complement to toilet paper Barbara thinks they’re too fragile. Mr. Wonderful wants to know sales. They’ve done $300K year to date and they are projecting $1.5 million in sales for the year.
They announce their Kroger deal; they’re rolling out in 1500 Krogers with 40% margin in the stores. That translates to about $168k per month in sales for all Kroger stores.
Mark isn’t a wipes kind of guy and he thinks they underestimated their marketing money – he’s out. Barbara believes wives buy most of the toilet paper and the dudes need to sell to them. She also thinks they’re flimsy – she’s out. Lori questions their valuation and Kevin and Robert agree.
Who’s In?
Robert offers $300K for 25% and Kevin offers the same. Mark says “DUDE, he’s trying to wipe you out!” Lori likes the fact that guys are clean and she likes the packaging, but she hates the valuation. She says she’ll leave it to the dudes next to her – she’s out.
The Dudes counter with $300k for 20% and ask Kevin and Robert to split the deal, both Robert and Mr. Wonderful say they can’t do that. They re-counter with two Sharks at 25%, but Kevin holds firm at 30%. The Dudes take the original offer from Mr. Wonderful, and just as he’s about to accept, Robert says he’ll do $300K 27.5%. Barbara shouts “save your souls and get out of here!!” Then Mark jumps back in and says he’ll do $300K for 25% and they do the deal!
RESULT: DEAL with Mark for $300K for 25% of the business.
Dude Wipes Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. The deal with Mark Cuban closed and the product is listed on Cuban’s website. Shark Tank Blog will update the situation with DudeWipes as more information becomes available.
Dude Wipes gets an update segment in season eight’s episode 822. In the update, they reveal Mark made a cameo in their latest marketing video. Their first year after Shark Tank, they made $3.2 million and there’s no stopping them. They did a deal with Walgreens and they’re in over 7300 stores combined now. They also cut a deal with Target! These things are everywhere. On a good note for the consumer – prices dropped to $5.79.
2020 saw record breaking sales as people scooped up Dude Wipes when they couldn’t buy toilet paper due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As of August, 2021, you’d be hard pressed to find a major drugstore or grocery retailer that does NOT sell these. Annual revenue is $70 million.
Another Update Segment
The business gets an update segment in in Shark Tank episode 1310. In the update, they say pre Shark Tank sales were $5000 per week. Today (November, 2021), sales are a whopping $1.4 million per week. Lifetime sales are $120 million. They have a 200,000 square foot warehouse. Dude Wipes are in over 15,000 retailers including WalMart, Target, Kroger and Amazon. Mark says they’ve re-invented the toilet paper market and they are totally dedicated to their business. They are currently the number 2 selling wipe in the USA, but they want to be number one and take their products worldwide.
In October, 2023, they were the 7th most successful Shark Tank company to date with $341 million in lifetime sales. In May, 2024, the company had taken 1% of the US toilet paper market and was gearing up to grab 10% of the market. The company founders feel they can be $500 million company by 2029.
Posts About Dude Wipes on Shark Tank Blog
Dude Wipes Company Information
Video (perhaps the strangest commercial ever)
