The Peanut Butter Pump was looking to score some cash on its Shark Tank appearance, but the viral buzz that the unique product has generated online appears to be a good consolation prize.
As USA Today noted, the company that was originally featured in a November, 2019, episode, and revisited again in August, 2020, was seeking a $200,000 investment in return for a 15 percent stake. The company offered a pump that fits on top of most peanut butter jars, making the product easy to pump directly onto a sandwich with no scooping or spreading.
The reservations from the Sharks about the usefulness of the pump ultimately proved to be too great. The pump doesn’t work on chunky peanut butter or on product that has been stored in the refrigerator, an idea that sparked a sharp debate over the appropriate way to store a jar.
The investors were ultimately too concerned about its versatility to invest any money, but that didn’t mean the appearance was a failure.
Though the Peanut Butter Pump was ultimately unable to get some investment from its time on Shark Tank , it did see some continued momentum on the viral interest it had already been building.
Good Morning America featured the company in a February, 2019, episode, noting how inventor Andy Scherer launched a successful online fundraising campaign that pulled together more than $129,000 to launch the business.
As Scherer told the morning talk show, he found his motivation in another popular food and found a way to get the most out of a jar.
“If the Keebler Elves could do it, I could too,” he told Good Morning America . “I sort of had to think like a molecule of peanut butter. If you block out the air, the peanut butter actually performs differently.”
While it’s not unusual for a company, especially those that are smaller and relatively unknown prior to being shown to millions of viewers, to get some big attention after being featured on Shark Tank , in the case of Peanut Butter Pump it was building on some already viral interest. The business had been featured in online news outlets and in a tweet from Digital Trends , helping establish some social media interest.
This device pumps out peanut butter. pic.twitter.com/uh4n6k5zJI
— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) March 4, 2019
This level of interest has continued in the months since the episode aired, and while it’s not clear if this is having a direct impact on sales or revenue for the Peanut Butter Pump, signs appear to be pointed in the right direction.
