Another Top 10 Worst Shark Tank Pitches

Okay… so we get that the product/company is called Eyebloc, but rocking sunglasses inside is rarely a good look. So we were already skeptical by the time entrepreneur Craig Isakow suddenly starts yelling and took them off. Granted, all of the concerns he raises about laptop and phone cameras are valid, and there’s admittedly something appealing about the simplicity of his invention to cover your laptop camera. Unfortunately, that same simplicity also significantly diminishes the worth of the product. Worse, Isakow himself oversells the device, coming across like a bit of an eccentric conspiracy theorist in the process. And people don’t like to get into business with eccentrics, especially when people can get the same results they’re selling with a simple piece of tape.

“Let’s address the elephant in the room”. Hey, we can appreciate the initial hook here, but apart from co-opting a popular saying, this business model just doesn’t have that much going for it. Acknowledging that you’re having issues in your relationship is difficult enough as is, but bringing a stuffed animal in to help… well, it’s not hard to imagine many partners being very put off by the idea. It’s undeniably cute, but its application elicits eyerolls from a number of the sharks almost immediately. And we’re pretty sure that most viewers at home had a similar reaction. Communication is the key to a good relationship, we’re just not convinced this elephant needs to be part of it.

Are we charmed by London the bulldog? Absolutely. Bring any animal into a room and you’ll almost immediately grab the attention of everyone in it. Three animals? Even better! But… founder Abe Geary might’ve been better off had he just let the animals do the talking. His opening attempt at hype is very over-the-top. And unfortunately, his wordplay isn’t much better. The way he mixes metaphors is a real turn off, especially his big finale. When you force two sayings together, you often wind up saying nothing at all. The unfortunate thing is, the paint-you-can-safely-use-on-your pets product isn’t terrible. And when Geary speaks outside the Shark Tank, he’s a businessman who actually inspires confidence. His cheesy pitch was just a major misfire.

Andy Humphrey, creator of the Ecomower, is another entrepreneur who should have chosen his words more carefully. Though his manual lawn mower has curb appeal, the way he goes about selling it rubs some of the sharks the wrong way. Yeah, Daymond John is NOT onboard. And as soon as he starts tearing apart the pitch, even Sharks who initially seemed open to the concept begin to express similar doubts. The major selling point is that this is a push mower that doesn’t require sharpening, but when Daymond and company grill Humphrey about this supposed advantage, it quickly begins to lose its competitive edge. To the surprise of few, Ecomower is no longer in business.

Here is a simple fact of food marketing: if you can come up with an alternative version of a popular treat that tastes great but has fewer calories… people are going to buy it like crazy. The most crucial part of the phrase, however, are the words: “tastes great”. This low-cal substitute for ice cream has many selling points, including it being dairy-free, soy free, gluten free and vegan. But as the sharks are quick to point out (much to their dismay, because some of them seemed genuinely interested), it doesn’t taste good. And so all its virtues become somewhat moot. It’ll still sell, sure, but only to a much smaller demographic. And for that simple reason… the sharks walked.

Honestly, we didn’t even need to hear a pitch to be sold on this electric watercraft. A still image with a description would have been enough. So… how did such a promising product sink so hard? Well, though the sharks seem onboard with the concept, the more they heard about inventor Jason Woods, the more obvious it became as to why the Kymera board wasn’t already a success story. He had no sales history and had apparently been at it for 10 years! Rarely has such a compelling product received a worse pitch. Thankfully, Woods went out and found himself a more business-minded partner, and years later, the Kymera board returned seeking redemption. Sure enough, Woods and partner Adam Majewski walked away with a deal.

#4: The Skinny Mirror

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Top 20 Worst Shark Tank Pitches of All Time

As the old saying goes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This product, pitched in season 7, takes that to a more literal conclusion by offering to trick your eyes into seeing yourself as being more slim than you actually are. Voila! The, uh, Skinny Mirror, even if it’s a not-so-skinny you. Entrepreneur Belinda Jasmine pitches her invention as a tool to help boost self-confidence, but Kevin O'Leary isn’t having any of it. Not only does he take issue with her lack of patent and blind faith in her brand identity, but he also appears to be offended by the concept. Jasmine, for her part, tries to keep the momentum going and a smile on her face, but the pitch quickly falls apart, and the tension in the room is palpable.

Where to begin? We get that people looooove their pets, but we draw the line at holding a giant fake tongue between your teeth and using it to lick a cat. And apparently, the sharks feel similarly. Husband and wife team Tara and Jason O’Mara know their stuff, and they’ve successfully gotten another product backed via Kickstarter. But when you start licking a cat during your pitch… it becomes really hard to take you seriously. The sharks are at once horrified — and more thoroughly entertained — than we’ve ever seen them before. We’ve no doubt that there are customers out there who love this product, but it’s just too niche.

For every problem, there is a solution. But when it comes to the problem of needing to pee while on the golf course, there MUST be a better solution out there. Presented by urologist Dr. Floyd Seskin, the uroclub is a hollow golf club that you urinate into. In Seskin’s defense, he does a lot right in his presentation. He’s professional, has a good sense of humor and has put in the work. And against the odds, he actually secures an offer - albeit a small investment for a majority share. But that doesn’t make this any less silly. This is a novelty product through and through. Plus, leak-proof or not, the idea of carrying a tube full of fresh urine around with you is seriously off-putting. Or is that off-putting?

Oh boy. Where do we begin with this one? It’s just a fake plastic phone! We agree with the basic point that the omnipresence of smartphones is problematic. Glance away from your phone for a second and look around - most people within sight are likely staring at one. But this “placebo” type approach of giving people something to just hold in their hand completely fails to address any of the key factors that drive people to their phones: the hunger for communication and the promise of distraction, whether with entertainment or information. With all that being said, we have to give credit where credit is due. For an utterly useless product, Chris Sheldon and Van Gould put together one heck of an attempt to sell it.