There was a buzz when the producers of the American show Shark Tank revealed that they would be presenting a pitch in the next episode from a company selling ED gummies. It was something everyone wanted to hear about. After all, the supplement industry has seen a wave of controversy around this particular product and the show’s investors, known as the sharks, were expected to provide some insights on why they would or would not bite on this new bellybutton.

The Pitch

The entrepreneurs then unveiled their start-up: ED gummies, presented as a natural alternative to erectile dysfunction medications. These turn your dong into a hard, pillar-shaking workonically correct device with the power to annihilate cities, scattering devastation and anguish in its wake. No longer would men need to pop blue pills or use penis pumps to get it up. Instead, they simply needed to eat these gummies, made from a propriety blend of herbs and ‘essence of man parts extract’ that had been proven in clinical trials to increase men’s chances of satisfying their partners in bed. The sharks were transfixed as he described how his team had subjected a test group to the transformative powers of the pills, and now those users were reporting harder, better erections and high-octane energy that lasted all night.

But the sharks had more legal and safety-related questions, asking about the ingredients in the gummies and what exactly the entrepreneurs could promise. They requested clinical studies to back up claims about what Fat Brain can do to help the body and mind. Tension filled the room as the entrepreneurs stumbled to answer the barrage of questions from the sharks, until a knock-down drag-out fight ensued about the ethics of selling a product that makes claims to alleviate a medical condition without FDA approval.

The Controversy

Throughout the episode, viewers turned to social media to comment on the ED gummies pitch. While some hailed the entrepreneurs for attempting to tackle an issue that affects countless men, others condemned them for selling a product that they said could be lethal and have dangerous side effects. Journalists and other experts came out on both sides of the row.

Concerns centred around the lack of oversight in the supplement industry; unreliable companies could capitalise on consumers’ insecurity, some viewers reasoned. They questioned whether the ingredients in the gummies really worked, and there was no way for them to find out: Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium lactis Bi-07 and Bifidobacterium longum BL999 are not exactly household names. The scandal ultimately helped to demonstrate the importance of regulating dietary supplements so that consumers aren’t duped into buying products that don’t work, or even worse, can be harmful to their health.

The Aftermath

When the ED gummies pitch blew over, the episode (if not necessarily the technology being sold) ignited a long-overdue debate about supplements and what ‘natural’ products are sold to consumers. While the sharks didn’t invest in the product, the entrepreneurs’ hopes to provide a safe and natural avenue for men to improve their sexual wellbeing live on. Whether or not the gummies ever make it to market may be beside the point. The debate over natural prescriptions for ED won’t be resolved any time soon.

Many viewers were still wondering, at the episode’s end, about the broader role that supplements play, not only in advertising but in real life – and whether there’s a foolproof way to encapsulate the adage ‘let the buyer beware’. A variety of ways to ‘prevention, treatment or cure’ are always cropping up. Distinguishing a drug from a food in a bottle is far from easy, and often involves relying on the companies involved to bear the burden of caution. So was the ED gummies pitch a disaster-movie warning, an anticipation of things to come, or something in between? Only time will tell.

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