Elizabeth Holmes's prized prison snack sees 345% sales spike after movie debut — the tiny company has no idea how it got behind bars

That brief appearance turned out to be good for business. After the documentary was released, online sales of the sriracha flavor jumped 345% on the website, bringing in roughly $25,000 in additional revenue.

“I had absolutely no idea our jerky was even in the film, so this entire experience has been surreal,” Hirsch told Moneywise. “It’s been one of the coolest experiences of my entire business career, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.”

An unlikely cameo

Before getting into the jerky business, Hirsch worked as a trader on Wall Street. He had always been a fan of the snack but felt most brands catered mainly to men. He also wasn’t a fan of how much sugar went into some of the products on the market, so he decided to create his own.

He launched Think Jerky from his Chicago living room, offering meat snacks made with ingredients such as 100% grass-fed beef and recipes developed with the help of well-known chefs.

Hirsch also had his own ideas about how to get people to notice his products. These days, companies spend billions of dollars on influencers and online advertising to get their brands in front of customers. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, U.S. spending on creator advertising is expected to reach $44 billion in 2026.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Hirsch has spent “close to zero dollars” on marketing. Hirsch wasn’t interested in spending heavily on influencer marketing. Instead, he focused on what customers would see when they walked into a store. His cousin helped design Think Jerky’s simple white packaging, which Hirsch hoped would be enough to get shoppers to give the product a try.

That’s not to say he was entirely opposed to a little star power. Hirsch partnered with several well-known chefs, including two-time James Beard Award winner Gale Gand, who developed the sriracha honey turkey jerky flavor.

“I never thought I would be one—or is it two—degrees of separation away from Elizabeth Holmes,” Gand told the WSJ.

Turning a viral moment into lasting sales

While the documentary gave Think Jerky an unexpected sales boost, the bigger question is whether that attention will translate into long-term growth.

“We definitely saw a significant initial spike in sales, which has since plateaued,” Hirsch told Moneywise. “ However, we’re continuing to see a steady trickle of new customers discovering and purchasing our products.”

Think Jerky isn’t the first company to benefit from an unexpected viral moment. In 2023, a woman posted a TikTok showing that her Stanley tumbler had survived a car fire, with ice still inside. The video racked up more than 90 million views, and Stanley made the most of the attention by offering to replace her car.

The company was already gaining popularity thanks to its colorful tumblers and influencer partnerships, but the video brought even more attention to the brand. Stanley’s annual revenue grew from $73 million in 2019 to an estimated $750 million in 2023, according to CNBC, although that growth wasn’t driven by the viral video alone.

Think Jerky has already built a fairly large retail presence, with its products available at around 10,000 locations nationwide. That includes everything from gas stations to hotel gift shops and specialty stores. Its jerky has even made its way into American Airlines’ first-class snack baskets and, apparently, a Texas federal prison vending machine, although Hirsch still isn’t sure how it got there.