When Aaron Krause presented Scrub Daddy on Shark Tank, investors Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary and Daymond John didn’t immediately see the vision for the sponge with a smile. But luckily, Lori Greiner saw a hero in Shark Tank’s season 4 episode 7 in October 2012. Fast forward to now, when a resurgence of cleaning videos occurred during the coronavirus pandemic, folks immediately reached for their Scrub Daddy — and many are now thanking Lori for what they call her smartest investment yet.
For many Scrub Daddy fans, TikTok was the first place they saw the product and its other assortment of products being tested, used and loved. Self-proclaimed Queen of Cleaning Vanesa Amaro has helped spread the word on the social media app. But the Scrub Daddy company’s history goes back more than a decade. When the product first appeared on Shark Tank, Scrub Daddy had only been sold in a handful of Philadelphia groceries stores and online. Aaron revealed that he was getting ready to launch in more stores and even gave the entrepreneurs a preview of what was to come — the Scrub Mommy.
In his pitch, Aaron demonstrated that his sponge’s polymer foam material turned hard in cold water and soft in warm water. This feature meant it could tackle messes on dishes, utensils, pans and even surfaces without leaving behind scratches. Although there was hesitancy at first to invest, a bargaining war ensued between Kevin, Daymond and Lori. Ultimately, Aaron teamed up with the Queen of QVC and the rest is history.
Today, TikTokers are still learning about how Scrub Daddy began. A quick scroll through the search page shows hundreds of videos sharing the company’s original Shark Tank pitch. “I didn’t know they were in Shark Tank. I buy them in Germany and they are great,” one person wrote. “It’s one of the best products [to] ever come out of Shark Tank,” another added. “It is such a good quality product. It deserves all the praise [to be honest],” a different fan said. “I didn’t get the hype until I bought one,” a follower commented.
Apart from the original Scrub Daddy, there are also a dozen other products, including Scrub Mommy, Sponge Daddy, Scour Daddy and Erase Daddy. What’s more, there are limited-edition sponge shapes and colors for different seasons and holidays. Despite Kevin arguing that $2.08 was too much to pay for a sponge, the original product now sells for about $4 at over 55+ different retailers online and in store.
In 2014, the 20/20 special Swimming with Sharks named Scrub Daddy the most successful Shark Tank product of all time. It was reported that the company had sold over 10 million units and made more than $50 million in sales in those two years. So, was it the best investment on Shark Tank? The masses say yes. While the most successful product title may now belong to Bombas socks (and the Ring Video Doorbell could have also earned the accolade if it wasn’t the one that got away!), Scrub Daddy is still a hero to many.
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Original Sponge
