When John Osher put his battery-powered Spin Pop lollipop on the market in 1993, he knew it would have staying power. What the toymaker didn't focus on was where it would be staying—on kids' teeth. With annual sales as high as 15 million, Osher, 54, said jokingly, "I sold so much candy that I felt guilty."
His latest brainchild should ease his conscience. Introduced in 1999, Dr. Johns SpinBrush ($5.99 for the adult model; $6.99 for the kiddie version, with mermaid or racing-car handle) may be the cheapest electric toothbrush money can buy. It's already a hit: This year, sales are expected to top $100 million. By 2004, predicts Osher, who recently sold Dr. Johns Products to Procter & Gamble, "this will be the biggest-selling toothbrush in the world."
Bet against him at your peril. As a child in Cincinnati, the second of four boys born to writer Muriel, 80, and surgeon Daniel, 86, Osher "always made a nickel or a dime," says his mom. After graduating from Boston University and working as a carpenter and plumber, he began marketing inventions. Gerber bought his business in 1985, largely to cash in on Osher's Rainbow Toybar, a baby floor gym. His next venture produced such smashes as the Spin Pop, the Giant Bubble Gun and the action figure Stretch Armstrong; Hasbro snapped up that company in 1997.
The father of three grown sons, Osher is enjoying his success with second wife Bonnie, 55, a children's clothing designer, at their home on the grounds of a South Florida country club. And he's certain that his cavity buster will have an even greater impact than the candy that preceded it. "The toothbrush," he boasts, "will last forever."
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