Highlights
- Every year, thousands of entrepreneurs apply to enter into Shark Tank.
- Out of the lucky ones, only some earn investments from the experienced Sharks.
- Despite not earning investments, there are some bizarre Shark Tank products that are remembered by the viewers to this date.
When Shark Tank made its debut in 2009, no one, not even the creators would have thought of it to become this huge. But today, it has become a great platform for budding entrepreneurs to make a name for themselves overnight. Realizing the potential of this rare opportunity, every year thousands of applicants try their luck entering in the show.
Do all of them manage to go past this step? No. Even if they do, there’s no guarantee that they would nab investments from the intelligent and wealthy Sharks.
But there’s another side to this, which I’m sure you must have noticed. Entrepreneurs, in an attempt to stand out in the competition come up with some of the craziest products. Sharks too take a chance and bear the risk by investing in those products. This is what has kept the show going even after 15 years of existence.
Here is a selected list of three most bizarre Shark Tank products in the history of the show that continue to be the talk of the town:
1. Ionic Ear
What are your thoughts on bluetooth headset? It’s amazing to listen to your favorite music, right? But what if the bluetooth device is required to be implanted right below your ears for the same thing?
Yes, you heard it right. This was the product idea brought up to the tank by Darren Johnson. Named as Ionic Ear, this product was a bluetooth device that was supposed to be implanted right below the ears.
As shocking as it may seem, the product contained a speaker, battery, and microphone. Speaking more about its functionality, Darren explained that if ever the battery went low, it could be charged by plugging in the AC adaptor into your ear, which would contain the charging port.
The Sharks couldn’t believe what they were listening to. So, they asked further questions and it was revealed that for getting an update, an additional surgery would be required. This way users could install the new device and remove the old one.
The valuation sought for this bizarre product was a whopping $1 million in return for 15% equity stake. Each of the Sharks were in utter shock and refrained themselves from making any offers of investment.
If you’re wondering about the latest update on Ionic Ear, there’s zero information. The company has no signs of existence and no website as well.
2. Sullivan Generator
Claiming himself to be an “inventor” with over “thousands of inventions,” Mark Sullivan brought his product Sullivan Generator to Shark Tank in its earliest seasons. Using his drawings and patents, Mark discussed how this product could generate electricity using the earth’s rotation effect.
But then came the most bizarre statement when he stated that the generator would spin due to Coriolis Effect and thus would emit free energy along with a valuable waste product, i.e., gold.
The offer sought by him for this weird product was $1 million for an equity stake of 10%.
Daymond John could figure out absolutely nothing out of this pitch and marked himself out. Barbara Corcoran did the same. The pattern continued as Mark Cuban too admitted to have believed nothing about this strange pitch.
Robert Herjavec did make an offer of $50K on the condition that Kevin O’Leary would contribute towards the remaining $950K. But Kevin too backed out, and so the deal did not close.
The current state of Sullivan Generator stays in the dark as he couldn’t find any investors post his appearance on the show. However, if you search online about Mark, you will find some details related to Sullivan on his personal website.
3. Carsik Bib
Targeting the pain area of car sickness of kids, Les Cookson came up to the Sharks with his company Carsik Bib. In order to make the pitch sound relatable, Les started describing how he had his wife have faced troubles due to their children encountering issues with car sickness.
Carsik Bib is nothing but a “barf bag,” which children of all ages could hold for themselves. Presenting it as a potent solution, he claimed that it could help people tackle the odor and mess caused due to this sickness of kids. The investment sought was $30K for a 15% equity stake in his company.
The Sharks couldn’t control their laughs throughout the pitch. It was as weird as the product because he used a cartoonish model of a kid’s face placed on a car seat so as to give the product demo. Whenever a kid vomits due to his or her sickness, the “barf bag” would absorb it with its carefully attached pad and thereby reduce the odor.
Every Shark burst out into chuckles when Daymond John tried the product sample. Only Kevin O’Leary showed some genuine interest in the numbers of the business but wasn’t impressed eventually. So, he was out. Daymond, Robert, and Barabra followed along and left Les with no deal.
The most recent update about Carsik Bibs is that the product is nowhere to be found. Rather, its active website with the same name is selling some other items, such as camera accessories, optical toys, and so on.
Sum Up
The success of Shark Tank in its history of 15 long years can’t be attributed to just the reasonable products that were brought up by smart entrepreneurs with well-prepared pitches. Instead, the show has managed to build a dedicated group of viewers with episodes that offer variety and weirdness. One such category of episodes that bring variety and quirkiness to the show is the ones with bizarre products.
These are the products that not just earn the chuckles and laughs for a momentary period, rather they are remembered for many years down the line. This is primarily why the products listed in the blog, which came up in the earliest seasons of the show, are still remembered by the viewers till date.
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
Speak Your Mind