Whatever Happened To Marz Sprays After Shark Tank?

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A lot of people want to lose weight without too much fuss — and it would be nice to get some vitamins in, as well. The folks behind Marz Sprays hoped to offer people both of these things when they launched their business and went on "Shark Tank" to get a bit more financial support. Discussion about the product led to hefty competition between the Sharks — but ultimately resulted in Marz Sprays going the way of the dodo, much like another "Shark Tank" company that had a unique home health care product, Cerebral Success.

The spray was born out of necessity from company co-founder Brandon Marz, who couldn't swallow pills as a child. In response, his doctor dad, Keith, created Marz Sprays, which helped Brandon get all of the health support he needed. The family was hoping to revolutionize the concept of the pill-taking process, but instead incurred a lawsuit from a big-name celebrity. Even with Lori Greiner on their side, they ended up having to deal with a whole lot of conflict as they left the health care business. But before all of that, here's what happened to Marz Sprays during their time on "Shark Tank."

Brandon and Keith Marz entered the Tank looking for $200,000 in exchange for 10% equity in their business. They presented Marz Sprays — a set of health sprays which take the place of pills. Options include a weight loss spray, a vitamin C spray, and sprays that promise quality sleep. Noting that only ten or twenty percent of a pill is absorbed when a person takes it, Keith turned to making sprays to help his kids take their medicine.

While the Marz family admitted they hadn't scored any major sales yet, they grabbed the Shark's attention by stating that Nature Made — a huge health and wellness company — was interested in partnering with them. On top of that, they say they have multiple purchase orders worth $1 million from seven European customers. This starts a frenzy in the tank; while Daymond John, Mark Cuban and Robert Herjavec drop out, with the former wanting to avoid dealing with European regulations and Herjavec having little to no experience in the medical field, and Cuban thinking they didn't have any. That left Lori Greiner and Kevin O'Leary, which led to a battle of the Sharks, somewhat like the one over Minus Cal.

Greiner offers $200,000 for 30% of the company — with the caveat that they need to deliver the Nature's Made deal. O'Leary first asked if she wanted to partner at $250,000 for 40%. In response to her "no," O'Leary counters with $200,000 for 25% of the pie. Brandon then tries to convince Greiner to go for a redemption deal – he offers to buy 12.5% of the company in exchange for a triplication of her investment money. She asked for four times her investment back. Brandon tries to convince Lori to take 20%. When she says no, they say yes — but that was just the beginning of the Marz family's wild ride.

In the wake of their appearance on "Shark Tank," it appears that Marz Sprays got some level of boost out of promoting their product on the program. Lori Greiner certainly sounded excited about the brand in her book "Invent It, Sell It, Bank It!," where she complimented the father and son duo for being quick and steady on their feet under pressure. She even admitted to taking the company's C-Spray on a regular basis. Brandon Marz told Shark Tank Blog in 2012 that the retail business had expanded to television commercials and further private label international sales. The deal with Greiner apparently was never completed (not a surprise, as she's the Shark least likely to close a deal), but they managed to bring in $1 million in sales in the wake of their "Shark Tank" appearance via direct-to-consumer sales.

The Marz family got into a legal battle with Walgreens in 2014, which they claim owed them nearly $500,000 for shipments they never paid for. They even hired protestors to picket one of the drugstore chain's Los Angeles, California, stores in 2015. They settled the suit with Walgreens soon after and ended up in Walmart. As of June 2021, the company had sold over 500,000 bottles of their formula and had managed to land a cross-licensing deal to use Popeye the Sailor Man to sell a line of children's vitamin sprays. But things wouldn't always be so rosy for Marz Sprays.

A major scandal would soon hit the brand. Marz Sprays had a long history of promoting their sprays through humor. Whether mocking the notion of Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi answering the White House's red phone to encourage sales of their sleep spray or packing a guy on a plane between two large fellows who can't stop sneezing to promote the vitamin C spray, they had a cheeky approach to promotion. Unfortunately, this got them into major trouble in 2014 when Jennifer Love Hewitt sued Marz Spray's parent company for using her image in banner ads. Hewitt's lawyers claimed that The Marz Group violated her publicity rights by using pictures of her holding a bottle of Marz Spray's Slim Spray in their promotion.

"A large portion of the Defendant's marketing campaign hinges on the exploitation of celebrities," the filing (reposted in part by The Hollywood Reporter) partially read. Hewitt's team filed a cease and desist order, then tried to collect attorney's fees and litigation costs plus actual damages. Hewitt also demanded Marz Group stop using her likeness, which she claimed was attained by someone slipping her a bottle of the stuff on the red carpet and then taking a picture. In a counterstatement, The Marz Group noted that Hewitt attended a gifting suite where their product was offered and questioned them about the product and that they legally purchased the images they used from the event.

The Hewitt suit was delayed in 2015 before being settled amicably in 2016. The Marz Group then proceeded to sue Getty/Wire Images and PR firm Feinstein McGuinness Public Relations. They claimed that these parties failed to get proper clearance from the celebrities in question, leading to the Hewitt lawsuit, which tanked their business and halted their distribution deals. While Marz Sprays continued to live on for several more years, it wouldn't make it very far into the 2020s.

Marz Sprays shut down in the spring of 2023. The only product they have left on Amazon is sold by a third-party seller, and the company's Facebook has not been updated since 2021, while its Instagram and X accounts have not been touched since 2015 and 2017, respectively. It looks like the company has completely closed up shop over the past few years.

There's no sign that the company will ever reopen its doors, and it looks like the vitamin spray is a thing of the past for its founders. While Keith Marz has no social media presence and seems to have gone quiet, Brandon Marz currently works with his own start-up, LifeRoc Capital LLC, a life settlement capital firm that he co-founded in 2017, though his LinkedIn bio still lists him as a Marz Sprays partner. If you're looking to rewatch the Marz Sprays story, "Shark Tank" is available for purchase on Prime Video, where you can snag any other episodes you might want to rewatch.