Squatty Potty

History

Squatty Potty was founded by Bobby Edwards and his mother Judy Edwards in 2011, and is based in St. George, Utah. 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. 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. The company had an estimated $15 million in online and retail sales in 2015.

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. In addition to the basic model, the company offers a bamboo model, and an adjustable stool.

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.

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. Stern's co-host Robin Quivers used the product while in recovery from cancer surgery.

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. 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.

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. It was the fourth-most watched ad on YouTube in October 2015.

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". When he and Seth Rogen were on Tim Ferriss's podcast, they mentioned, although without saying the brand name, that Rogen got Goldberg the appliance.