This person shared a PSA about Amazon products after buying a Scrub Daddy sponge that felt strange.
Now, viewers are left wondering if there’s anything they can do about dupes and fakes on online marketplaces.
What is a Scrub Daddy?
A Scrub Daddy is a wildly popular cleaning tool known for its functional ability to gently but firmly remove gunk, odor resistance, and cute smiley face design.
And it’s not just great at handling dishes. People use it for many things, including car washing and cleaning outdoor furniture.
At this point, you can buy a Scrub Daddy in multiple retailers, from Walmart to Home Depot to your local grocery store.
The brand gained notoriety after appearing on an episode of Shark Tank more than a decade ago in 2012. Lori Greiner, known as the “Queen of QVC” invested $200,000 for a 20% stake in the company.
In the past, it’s been named “Shark Tank’s most successful product to date.“
Scrub Daddy gone wrong
In a viral video with more than 320,000 views, creator Melvin shared his recent experience with Scrub Daddy, and it’s not good.
In the TikTok, @melvin_smelvin8 had a green Scrub Daddy in his hand and squeezed it.
Scrub Daddies are made from a highly engineered polymer foam known as FlexTexture. As the name implies, the texture of the sponge changes; if you put it under cold water, it firms up for tough scrubbing, and in warm water, it softens for gentler cleaning.
Usually, when you squeeze a Scrub Daddy, it reverts right back to its original shape.
That’s how Melvin knew something wasn’t right.
“Was cleaning with a scrub daddy and it seemed a bit off…” Melvin said in the video’s text overlay.
When he squeezed, the sponge remained misshapen, taking quite some time to come back to its originally smiley face.
So he grabbed the packaging it came in for further inspection, and that’s when he noticed more sketchy details.
The box did say “Scrub Daddy” on it. However, instead of saying “3 pack,” the box said “3pick.” The bottom of the box read “Beast Kipe,” and the company was listed as the “The Smile Face Sponge.”
“Count ur days ‘scrub daddy’ from Amazon,” Melvin wrote.
“@Scrub Daddy please explain this!! We ordered this from your Amazon official store. we normally order these all the time! It really just shows how good your sponges are because we noticed instantly,” he added in the caption.
How to spot fake products
Now, in Melvin’s case, it’s harder for him to have caught on to the scam before ordering since he said he ordered from Scrub Daddy’s official page.
But here’s what you can do in other situations to prevent yourself from getting scammed, according to Business Insider:
- Check that the images look real and are high quality.
- Look at the language of the product description to make sure it makes sense and isn’t full of typos or random keywords.
- Read the reviews and try to sniff out fakes.
- Check what else the seller offers and see if they give complaints or multiple instances of fake-looking products or weird descriptions.
Commenters react
“This explains why my most recent ones have SUCKED, I swear by ScrubDaddy Official products!” one wrote.
“I buy mine at costco! never had this problem,” a commenter chimed in.
“I bought mine at Walmart and they are doing the same thing!? I’ve only used dawn dish soap on them too, planning on returning them this week,” another shared.
@melvin_smelvin8 @Scrub Daddy please explain this!! We ordered this from your Amazon official store. 😐 we normally order these all the time! It really just shows how good your sponges are because we noticed instantly 😖 #scrubdaddy #help #fake ♬ Chopin Nocturne No. 2 Piano Mono – moshimo sound design
The Daily Dot reached out to Melvin for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Scrub Daddy and Amazon via email.
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