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Is Cheese Chopper just a 'better mousetrap'? Fans mock 'Shark Tank' product design after it fails to bag deal

'Tate needs to spend more time perfecting his mousetrap, but he's on the right track by filling it with cheese,' said a viewer

True to the spirit of the popular saying "necessity is the mother of invention", Tate Koenig created The Cheese Chopper to help cheese lovers enjoy their favorite food without compromising on the taste and quality of it. 

Since high-quality cheese tends to be expensive, buying them in pre-cut slices can become a very expensive affair. Although blocks of cheese are most cost-effective in comparison, slicing them into perfectly cut thin slices can be very tricky. So Tate created The Cheese Chopper a guillotine-looking product with three handle attachments that can slice both hard and soft cheese variants, and also grate them. The Cheese Chopper container can also be used as a storage box for cheese blocks. While the product looked interesting and the concept was definitely a hit, fans couldn't help but notice how the design of Cheese Chopper bore a striking resemblance to a modified mousetrap.

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From its looks to guillotine design fans felt that the Cheese Chopper looked like a 'better mousetrap'. A fan tweeted, "Never underestimate the benefit of building a better mousetrap! You don't have to reinvent the wheel. #SharkTank." The same viewer followed up her criticism in another tweet saying, "He just needs to tweak his better mousetrap. #SharkTank." Guest Shark Daniel Lubetzky too shared similar thoughts with, "Tate needs to spend more time perfecting his mousetrap, but he's on the right track by filling it with cheese. #SharkTank."

Fans were also put off by how the product seemed to be a bit complicated to use. A fan commented, "I didn’t like the fact that cheese got stuck. No one has time for this #SharkTank." "It’s concerning mark couldn’t even get it to work. Anyone else notice that? #SharkTank," pointed another fan.

Tate walked into the tank seeing $750K for a 10% stake in his company. The Sharks were taken aback when they learned that he only fulfilled Kickstarter orders and hadn't actually sold any to customers yet. Mark Cuban pointed out how he needed to know more about customers' thoughts on the product and their feedback before he made any investment, so he decided to opt out of making a deal. The other Sharks too agreed with Mark and felt that his business was in very early stages to come on the show and sent him away without making any offer.

'Shark Tank' Season 12 airs every Friday at 8/7c on ABC.