Wicked Good Cupcakes sells cupcakes in glass mason jars. It gained national fame after a 2013 Shark Tank appearance. The company not only got an investment, but made history as the first royalty-based deal Kevin O’Leary ever offered. Not only that, but it is also the most profitable deal O’Leary has made on the show.
Following the appearance, the modest mother-daughter cupcakery became a multi-million-dollar enterprise. It has one storefront in Boston, which I visited a few years ago. It is beginning to franchise food trucks, but does most of its business online. I succumbed to curiosity and ordered the four pack pictured above.
This is a thought-provoking case study which begs inquiry into the role of the media in creating and elevating a brand that may not have succeeded so remarkably based solely on its product. O’Leary is reportedly not sugarcoating his advice, even as he enters center stage.
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 