It's natural to love pets and be completely captivated by furry friends, but at times people go too far to express their affection. The sharks on "Shark Tank" have seen hundreds of pitches since 2009, but rarely has one been as weird as the one from PDX Pet Design. Founders Tara and Jason O'Mara managed to shock the veteran investors with their product the "Licki Brush" which helps cat owners lick their pets without their tongues touching them.
An Unusual Way to Bond With Cats
The founders explained that their company makes a variety of products to improve a pet's life. The first product they demonstrated was "SHRU", an electronic cat toy that imitates the movements of smaller creatures on the floor. However, the weirdest product was the LICKI Brush, a tongue-shaped brush that lets pet owners lick their pets without making contact.
“We looked at the fact that cats groom each other as a form of social bonding. There’s also evidence that your cat looks at you as a big cat, not a human,” Tara said during the pitch. "Well, with Licki brush, you don’t have to be left out anymore," she added. Tara then demonstrated how the brush works by putting it in her mouth and mimicking the way cats lick another cat.
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All the 'sharks' started laughing hysterically and Mark Cuban told them to drop a mic after that pitch, while Kevin O’Leary commented that the cat Chestnut is now “psychologically disturbed.” However, Robert Herjavec was quite amused by the product. He even volunteered to use the product on another cat to see how it worked. He then stuck the Licki Brush in his mouth to caress a cat on national television.
While at the moment, Herjavec regretted what he did, saying “I hate myself so much right now," years later he told Entertainment Weekly that it wasn't his proudest moment on the show.
A Bold Pitch
The O’Maras shared that they started the company with a Kickstarter campaign, raising $170,779. Before appearing on Shark Tank, Jimmy Kimmel shared a promo for their LICKI Brush on Twitter.
On Shark Tank, the couple from Portland sought a $300,000 investment for 15% of their company, a demand that most sharks considered bold. When asked about the sales, the founders said they brought $250,000 in revenue from sales of Shru, and $52,000 in sales from the Licki Brush. While the Shru retailed for $119, the Licki Brush was priced at $19. Furthermore, they boldly projected that the company would achieve $180,000 in sales by the end of the year and they had five more designs in the pipeline at the time.
Despite the confidence, the sharks weren't amused and cited problems with the valuation and the sales to back out. But even without a Shark Tank deal, PDX Pet Design continued to operate and remained active on social media channels. However, they stopped posting revenue figures after the episode was aired and the five prototypes never made it to market.
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Currently, the company's website is linked to an Amazon listing for the LICKI brush, but the retailer shows that the product is unavailable. The company also hasn't posted anything on social media since 2022.
