Shark Tank: Mark Cuban Recalls The Show's Worst & Smelliest Pitch
Mark Cuban and his fellow sharks encounter some interesting entrepreneurial ideas, to say the least. From a cat artist to the UroClub, which allows a golfer to relieve oneself while on the course, they've seen it all. However, Cuban feels that one pitch in particular is the worst — and smelliest — to hit the "Shark Tank" stage.
During a 2013 episode of what was then "Live! With Kelly and Michael," host Michael Strahan asked Cuban to recall the biggest pitch flop to date. Without hesitation, Cuban named Johnson Bailey, who appeared on Season 2, Episode 8 with the Original Man Candle. In a quest to have his home smell more manly than the usual scents of vanilla and lavender, he created scents of barbecue, bacon, popcorn and, for use when you want a guest to leave, farts.
"The worst was the fart candles," said Cuban. "Some dude came on and he's like, 'I've got all these different flavors, or smells, for candles instead of just traditional candles.' And these are good gag gifts. And then they hand one out to each of the sharks, there's five of us, and of course, they want to hand me the basketball smelling candle. But instead, I get the fart smelling candle. I'm like, 'It smells like a fart but I'm not gonna invest in your company. It's nasty!' So that was probably the worst."
Mark Cuban was right to be hesitant about Original Man Candle
When Johnson Bailey appeared on "Shark Tank," Mark Cuban was the only shark to be somewhat supportive of his entrepreneurial efforts. As Barbara Corcoran and the others expressed dismay when Johnson revealed that he only sold $53,000 worth of candles the year prior, Cuban said, "You've got a shot here, don't let these guys drag you down."
However, as Cuban learned more, including how Bailey hand-pours each candle, he couldn't bring himself to make an investment he'd later regret. While he could see Bailey's entrepreneurial spirit, he wanted more than just the one product: "Because I can't visualize it as a full company, I'm out."
Though "Shark Tank" viewer and entrepreneur P. Nathan Thornberry took a liking to the Original Man Candle, investing $65,000 for 35 percent equity, the partnership turned south. Bailey ended up losing a breach of contract suit by Thornberry, and filed for bankruptcy. At the time of this writing, Original Man Candle is following a trajectory envisioned by the sharks. The candles are still sold as gag gifts via small gift shops, and are also available on resell sites like eBay and Mercari.