ICYMI, there was controversy on the latest episode of ‘Shark Tank‘, and it wasn’t that there are no actual sharks anywhere to be seen, which is blatant false advertising. No, this controversy featured two intensely fit young men from Sydney named Raph Freedman and Rory Boyden.
The boys went on the Channel 10 show hoping to get a $50 000 investment from one of the sharks (again, not real sharks), for their product Peak Chocolate, a pre-workout snack that is apparently “80 per cent cacao dark chocolate, infused with a special formulation of supplements and caffeine.” Personally I think chocolate is a perfect product by itself, but whatever. Along with caffeine it also contains other stuff gym-bros like, such as creatine and something called branched-chain amino acids.
The controversy began when almost immediately the pair clashed with Boost Juice founder and shark Janine Allis, who accused them of being misleading when claiming that the chocolate accelerates muscle growth and increases energy levels.
At the moment you’re making health claims that aren’t proven which means it’s against the law. I would seriously think about repackaging because there’s a number of things on here that are just simply against the food standards codes.
Boyden hit back at her, saying that they didn’t have proof for the “synergistic benefits” (lol ok), but that the contained supplements are popular and heavily researched. His explanation didn’t fly, and the boys walked away without a deal.
But in a follow up, the boys have hit back even further, coming out swinging in a blog post that asked “Was missing out on a Shark Tank deal the best thing that ever happened to Peak Chocolate?” and went on to explain what went down on the show. The post claims that they are going to take Allis’ advice on the packaging, that sales are booming, and that they don’t need to do scientific trials for their product.
In a follow-up interview with News Corp, Freedman was a bit more direct, taking on entrepreneur Steve Baxter (one of the human sharks, not a real shark) by saying:
When Steve Baxter was talking about chemicals, to be honest he had no idea what he was talking about. I think there was a bit of a personal battle going on. They didn’t really like us. Once Steve made fun of us, Sydney Grammar boys, now fitness trainers, I think more than anything it was a personality clash.
So which side will you choose in the battle between Sydney private school boys turned gym owners vs people with too much money paid to judge them? It’s a toughie. Personally I am siding with the sharks. Not the ones on the show, the real ones.
