Buckle up for the most cringe-worthy and awkward pitches in Shark Tank history! From bizarre inventions to painfully uncomfortable presentations, these entrepreneurs will make you squirm with their outrageous business ideas that left the sharks speechless.
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00:00Who's still left on the executive producer list?
00:02We're not. We're already out.
00:04Definitely, we're out.
00:06All right, all right, you know, take it down.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:12for the most cringeworthy pitches ever put before the sharks on Shark Tank.
00:16I've had the pleasure of being with more than one woman in the last 50 years.
00:22How much did that cost you?
00:27Number 10. Cougar Limited.
00:29The Cougar. Modern. Sexy.
00:32Because what the world really needs is another energy drink,
00:35especially one with such a small and kind of derogatory target market.
00:40Introducing Cougar Energy Drink for Women.
00:44Not to mention, women between the ages of 35 and 55
00:48hardly seem like the prime demographic of energy drink consumers.
00:52Also, how many women can there possibly be out there who self-identify as Cougars?
00:57OK, in case you're unclear on the concept,
00:59this is an energy drink for women of a certain age who like to date younger men.
01:03Isn't a Cougar typically older? Because she looks younger than you are.
01:06Well, she's been drinking the Cougar, the Cougar shot for a while now.
01:10I'm 35.
01:1135.
01:12Wow, you look great.
01:13Isn't that too young to be a Cougar?
01:15The inventor, Ryan Custer, claims this is, quote,
01:18the industry's first gender-specific functional beverage.
01:22But even that doesn't seem to be true.
01:24This product pretty much has nothing going for it,
01:26and it really doesn't help that, according to Barbara Corcoran,
01:29the drink tastes like chalk.
01:31Zero calories, zero sugar.
01:32It looks like chalky taste I have on my tongue now.
01:33Could be, uh, maybe the niacin.
01:35Number nine, Wakenbacon.
01:37My product takes a unique approach on waking up in the morning.
01:40It's pretty much the only one of its kind.
01:42Didn't Michael Scott have this one covered?
01:44When I wake up, I plug in the grill.
01:47I go back to sleep again.
01:49Then I wake up to the smell of crackling bacon.
01:52When you want to wake up to freshly made bacon,
01:54you just set up a George Foreman grill at the foot of your bed, right?
01:58Clearly, this inventor isn't a fan of The Office
02:00because he came up with a pig-shaped device
02:02with the exclusive purpose of bedside bacon making.
02:06And so, inspired, I went home and I built
02:09the world's first alarm clock that actually wakes you up with bacon.
02:13This is the first idea on our list that actually seems kind of appealing
02:16until you think about the logistics of it.
02:18You have to put the bacon in before you go to sleep,
02:20and leaving raw meat unrefrigerated overnight
02:23seems like a recipe for disaster.
02:25Not to mention the whole thing seems like a serious fire hazard.
02:29You got no projections whatsoever.
02:30You got a pig box that's gonna catch on fire and kill somebody.
02:33I'm gonna be sued into Stone Age.
02:34But those problems notwithstanding,
02:36Matty Salen should just keep working on this one.
02:39We are intrigued.
02:41Hey, Matty, I love the face of the pig.
02:43Do you have a slogan for this or anything?
02:45Rise and swine?
02:47Number eight, Rolodoc.
02:49And what we've realized is that when it comes to communication,
02:52medicine is not in the 21st century.
02:55Aren't doctors supposed to be smart?
02:57Well, brothers and doctors Albert and Richard Amini
03:00managed to give a bad name to a well-respected profession,
03:03at least in the eyes of Mark Cuban.
03:05You're not gonna let him tell me how I make money.
03:07Because there's no chance of you making money on this.
03:09Their idea for a mobile app that connects doctors and patients
03:12isn't fundamentally stupid in theory,
03:14but their pitch was so bad that there's no way
03:16anyone would trust their business sense.
03:18Sharks, with your investment,
03:20we will revolutionize the way we communicate in medicine,
03:22but most importantly, you'll help us get rid of these pagers
03:25and make some money doing it.
03:26They keep throwing in buzzwords like social media
03:29without an actual plan to back any of it up.
03:32It sounds like what they want to do
03:33is create a LinkedIn for physicians,
03:35but they have no idea how to get doctors to use their app
03:37or how to monetize it.
03:39The Sharks are understandably a bit harsh with their criticism.
03:42It's a valid concern because you don't want to be reading
03:44about somebody that actually isn't a surgeon
03:46for suffering heart surgery.
03:47That would be a bad outcome.
03:48I don't think they'll be able to get anybody.
03:49It's going to be dangerous if we can't get any doctors.
03:51Number seven, EuroClub.
03:54For every problem, there is a solution,
03:56but when it comes to the problem of needing to pee
03:59while on the golf course,
04:00there must be a better solution out there.
04:02Presented by urologist Dr. Floyd Seskin,
04:05the EuroClub is a hollow golf club that you urinate into.
04:09In Seskin's defense, he does a lot right in his presentation.
04:13This is a trademark patent-pending product
04:15that functions as a self-contained receptacle.
04:18He's professional, he has a good sense of humor,
04:21and has put in the work.
04:22And against all odds, he actually secures an offer,
04:25albeit a small investment for a majority share.
04:28But that doesn't make this any less silly.
04:31This is a novelty product through and through.
04:33Can you get stuck?
04:35Nobody's complained yet,
04:37but it is the one size fits all right now.
04:38Plus, leak-proof or not,
04:40the idea of carrying a tube full of fresh urine around with you
04:44is seriously off-putting.
04:46Pop a tent with an attendant, I think,
04:48to take you to the bathroom.
04:50And you would need several of them.
04:51Number six, elephant chat.
04:54Let's address the elephant in the room.
04:56Hey, we can appreciate the initial hook here,
04:58but apart from co-opting a popular saying,
05:00this business model just doesn't have that much going for it.
05:03Introducing the elephant in the room.
05:07Oh, lord.
05:09Acknowledging that you're having issues in your relationship
05:12is difficult enough as is,
05:14but bringing a stuffed animal in to help?
05:16Well, it's not hard to imagine many partners
05:18being very put off by the idea.
05:20I simply remove the cover
05:22and reveal the elephant in the room.
05:24So when I get home and I see the elephant is in the room,
05:27I immediately know that she has something
05:28she wants to talk about.
05:29It's undeniably cute,
05:31but its application elicits eye rolls
05:33from a number of the sharks almost immediately.
05:36And we're pretty sure that most viewers at home
05:38had a similar reaction.
05:40Communication is the key to a good relationship.
05:42We're just not convinced this elephant
05:44needs to be part of it.
05:45Number five, ledge pillow.
05:48There's a market for everything,
05:50or so Amanda Schlechter hoped.
05:52She brought in the ledge pillow,
05:54a small memory foam pillow
05:56meant for women with large breasts.
05:58It is the only wedge type pillow on the market
06:00for women with implants or with large breasts
06:04to just lay on their stomach.
06:05This small cushion is placed
06:07underneath the woman's stomach,
06:08allowing her to comfortably sleep on a bed.
06:11The presentation gets off to a bad start
06:14with snickering through the demonstration
06:16and sarcastically calling out the big problem.
06:19Who knew we had this big problem?
06:22It's a problem.
06:22Thank goodness.
06:24I knew this was one that the guys
06:26would want to get their hands on.
06:28They also joke and laugh their way
06:30frequently through the whole thing,
06:31even while trying to talk business with Schlechter.
06:34It's clearly not going well,
06:36and that's before Mark calls her a wantrepreneur
06:40and declines the offer.
06:41Was this sexism in action?
06:44Number four, the skinny mirror.
06:47As the old saying goes,
06:48beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
06:50This product, pitched in season seven,
06:52takes that to a more literal conclusion
06:54by offering to trick your eyes
06:56into seeing yourself as being more slim
06:58than you actually are.
06:59Voila, the, um, skinny mirror,
07:02even if it's a not-so-skinny you.
07:04The real motivation to slim down
07:06is to look at reality,
07:07deal with the truth every day,
07:09and finally get around the idea
07:11that losing weight's hard work.
07:12Entrepreneur Belinda Jasmine
07:14pitches her invention as a tool
07:15to help boost self-confidence,
07:17but Kevin O'Leary isn't having any of it.
07:19But when I started this company,
07:21I said this mirror would not be used
07:23to deceive anyone,
07:24and that's why I told them-
07:25It's doing it every day.
07:27Even though-
07:27You're saying you have to find
07:28your little logo down there
07:29to figure out what's going on?
07:30You can see it.
07:31All you gotta do is just take a look.
07:33Not only does he take issue
07:34with her lack of patent and blind faith
07:36in her brand identity,
07:38but he also appears to be offended
07:39by the concept.
07:40Jasmine, for her part,
07:42tries to keep the momentum going
07:43and a smile on her face,
07:45but the pitch quickly falls apart,
07:47and the tension in the room is palpable.
07:49If a customer looks at that
07:50and they look great in that outfit
07:53and then they take it home
07:55and they obviously look bad or different,
07:58they're not gonna be happy.
07:59Number three, track days.
08:02We're seeking five million dollars.
08:04Whoa.
08:06That's a lot of money.
08:07In exchange for 34% equity in our production.
08:09Pitching a feature-length film to the Sharks
08:11seems ambitious to begin with,
08:13but when it sounds as bad as this,
08:15the creators are bound to get eaten alive.
08:17So boys, you want five million bucks
08:19to make a movie?
08:20I know how you feel that,
08:21you know, you think that filmmaking is a crapshoot,
08:24which we completely understand.
08:25Making up the pitch team
08:27are a former stuntman,
08:28a writer, and a producer.
08:30When they make their pitch,
08:31they have no script,
08:32no actors,
08:33and no financial backing.
08:34Essentially what we'll be doing
08:35is we'll be putting a script together,
08:38which is in the process of being rewritten.
08:40You don't even have a script yet?
08:41The guys make sure to stress
08:42that this is not a movie
08:43about the popular sport of motocross
08:46since they were told
08:47there's no viable U.S. market
08:48for a motocross movie.
08:50No, this is a film about MotoGP,
08:52a lesser-known sport
08:53that's given little to no attention
08:55in the United States.
08:56They also mention that
08:57there's never been a movie
08:58made about the sport,
08:59but maybe there's a reason for that?
09:02You know, I'm a huge motorcycle fan
09:03and there's been such a lack
09:05of movies made about them.
09:07Number two, Haven.
09:09Who doesn't cringe in embarrassment
09:11when a presentation goes horribly wrong?
09:13Enter Clay Banks and Alex Bertelli of Haven,
09:17a special lock that is meant to secure doors
09:19better than a standard deadbolt.
09:21When activated,
09:23the wedge-based barrier lifts up.
09:25Using simple physics,
09:27this makes your entire door
09:2810 times stronger
09:29to preventing home break-in.
09:31It's a fair idea,
09:32but the presentation is an iconic disaster.
09:35Bertelli hopes to prove
09:36the flimsy nature of a deadbolt
09:38by kicking down a prop door.
09:40It does not go well.
09:42He continuously kicks the door to no success
09:45and even grabs a nearby stand to ram it,
09:48still to no success.
09:50Meanwhile, the sharks howl with laughter,
09:53drowning out Banks' desperate attempt
09:55to continue the presentation.
10:03Are you okay?
10:04Mark calls it the best pitch ever
10:06and later called it the funniest pitch
10:09in the show's history.
10:10We can't argue with that.
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10:28Number one, Ionic Ear.
10:30My name is Darren Johnson
10:32and I'm here today to explain
10:34the Ionic Ear investment opportunity.
10:36One of the all-time worst pitches
10:38comes from Shark Tank's very first episode
10:40all the way back in 2009.
10:43You guys are so close-minded.
10:45Please let him finish.
10:46Okay, okay.
10:48Apparently, back in the old days,
10:49Bluetooth earpieces were
10:50the must-have tech gadget.
10:52But this guy took it one step further
10:54so that you and your Bluetooth
10:55would never have to be apart.
10:57I'm sorry, were you implanting this
11:00into another device?
11:01What are you implanting this into?
11:02No, it's actually going into your ear.
11:04Pitching a surgically-implanted Bluetooth device
11:07that's inserted into the wearer's ear canal,
11:10Darren Johnson manages to creep the sharks out
11:12and get some of the fastest I'm-outs
11:15in the show's history.
11:16Don't call me, I'll call you.
11:18I'm out.
11:19Okay, I appreciate that.
11:21The fact that the device
11:22has to be charged nightly
11:23by inserting a large needle into one's ear
11:26definitely doesn't help his cause.
11:28And neither does the fact
11:29that he didn't actually get any doctors
11:31to approve his product.
11:32Surprise, surprise.
11:33This product never took off.
11:35Darren, here's insanity.
11:38Here's genius.
11:41You're somewhere.
11:42Do you have any crazy product ideas
11:45you would like to pitch to the sharks?
11:46Let us know in the comments.
11:48Check out these other clips from WatchMojo
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