Squatty Potty
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Personal care |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder |
Bobby Edwards Judy Edwards |
| Headquarters | St. George, Utah |
| Products |
Squatty Potty Swoosh Bidet Good Move Sweet Loo |
| Website |
squattypotty |
Squatty Potty is an American personal care company best known for its toilet accessory stool of the same name.
History
Squatty Potty was founded by Bobby Edwards and his mother Judy Edwards in 2011,[1][2] and is based in St. George, Utah.[3] The concept for the product was conceived in May 2010, after a doctor suggested to Judy, a long-time sufferer of constipation, that squatting could improve her situation by helping to relax the colon. She found success with the squatting position, raising her feet on a bulky step stool while on the toilet. Bobby Edwards offered to make her a U-shaped stool that would fit around the base of a standard Western toilet when not in use. In July 2011, the mother-son duo designed a prototype, a wooden stool to give to friends as Christmas gifts. Receiving positive reactions, they decided to package and market the item.[2][4][5][6] Debuting in 2012, the Squatty Potty generated approximately $1 million in annual sales in its first year, and $2.7 million in its second year.[7][8] The company had an estimated $15 million in online and retail sales in 2015.[1]
Products
Squatty Potty
A toilet stool with a slide-out footrest, the Squatty Potty is shaped to fit around the base of the toilet, elevating the user's feet as the body assumes a squatting position. According to the company, squatting can open the colon to make defecating faster and more complete while reducing straining, and eliminate problems such as constipation and hemorrhoids.[5][8][9] In addition to the basic model, the company offers a bamboo model, and an adjustable stool.[2][5][7]
Other products
Other Squatty Potty products include the Refresh-it Bidet, a bidet that attaches to a toilet seat; Good Move, an all-natural laxative to help alleviate constipation; and Sweet Loo, a spray using natural oils.[6]
In the media
Howard Stern is a strong proponent of the product and has discussed the benefits of Squatty Potty on his radio show regularly since first using it in December 2013.[2][10] Stern's co-host Robin Quivers used the product while in recovery from cancer surgery.[11]
Squatty Potty was featured on season 6 of Shark Tank in 2014 and 2015, with Bobby Edwards and Judy Edwards accepting an offer of $350,000 for 10% of the company from "shark" Lori Greiner.[12][13] According to Greiner, Squatty Potty easily had the biggest sales after the night of airing in Shark Tank history, selling $1 million that first night and $3 million the first three weeks after airing.[13]
A 2015 advertisement created by the Harmon Brothers and featuring a pooping unicorn received 31 million views on Facebook and 5 million views on YouTube within three months of its October 6, 2015 launch. An Auto-Tune remix was released soon after.[1][14][15] It was the fourth-most watched ad on YouTube in October 2015.[16]
Evan Goldberg, on his microblog, linked to the Squatty Potty unicorn commercial, adding that it was funny, especially since he himself already owned one and that "everyone should own one".[17] When he and Seth Rogen were on Tim Ferriss' podcast, they mentioned, although without saying the brand name, that Rogen got Goldberg the appliance.[18]
Television
| Series | Network | Appeared on | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Doctors | Syndication | Season 5, episode 44 | November 8, 2012 |
| TMZ | Syndication | December 15, 2013 | |
| Shark Tank | ABC | Season 6, episode 609 | October 31, 2014 |
| The Dr. Oz Show | Syndication | Season 6, episode 136 | April 9, 2015 |
| Shark Tank | ABC | Season 6, episode 625 | May 8, 2015 |
References
- 1 2 3 T.L. Stanley, “Squatty Potty’s CEO Ignored Everyone, Made an Insane Video and Boosted Sales 600%,” Ad Week, December 10, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Sam Grobart, “The Cult of the Squatty Potty,” Bloomberg Businessweek, December 22, 2015.
- ↑ Scott D. Pierce, “Utah mother-son team pitch Squatty Potty on ‘Shark Tank’,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 13, 2014.
- ↑ Eliza Barclay, “For Best Toilet Health: Squat Or Sit?” NPR, September 28, 2012.
- 1 2 3 Jennifer LaRue Huget, “Is that right? Squatting on the potty is better than sitting?” Washington Post, October 19, 2012.
- 1 2 Angela Barbuti, “The Squatty Potty Enters the ‘Shark Tank’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know,” Heavy.com, November 14, 2014.
- 1 2 Neil Parmar, “Where Entrepreneurs Look to Get Inspired,” Inc., December 9, 2014.
- 1 2 Brian O’Connor, “Shark Tank Recap: Barbara Corcoran Will Not Work Her Buns Off For Nothing,” Inc., April 6, 2015.
- ↑ Eric Spitznagel, “Are You Pooping All Wrong? Enter the Squatty Potty!” Men's Health, January 30, 2014.
- ↑ Katie Leone, “Squatty Potty piques interest after mention on Howard Stern show,” WFTS-TV, December 18, 2013.
- ↑ Roben Farzad, “Really, Do We Know Squat?” Bloomberg Businessweek, December 23, 2013.
- ↑ Graham Winfrey, “The Women of ‘Shark Tank’ Kill It on the 100th Episode,” Inc., November 17, 2014.
- 1 2 Graham Winfrey, “Lori Greiner on How She Proved Mark Cuban and Other Co-Sharks Wrong,” Inc., April 7, 2015.
- ↑ Christopher Heine, “Here Are 14 Interesting Digital Marketing Stats From the Past Week,” Ad Week, October 27, 2015.
- ↑ Dan Solomon, “You’re Not as Good at Pooping as a Unicorn, According to Squatty Potty,” Fast Company, October 7, 2015.
- ↑ Tim Nudd, “The 10 Most Watched Ads on YouTube in October,” Ad Week, November 11, 2015.
- ↑ "Evan Goldberg on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-09-17.
- ↑ "#108: Comedy's Dynamic Duo, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg". The Tim Ferriss Show. 29 September 2015. 77 minutes in.