Type Private | Industry Sex industry | |
Founded North Carolina, United States (1970) Founder Phil Harvey and Tim Black Headquarters Hillsborough, North Carolina, United States Products Sex toys, personal lubricants, pornographic films, condoms | ||
Adam & Eve is a conglomerate company that sells sex toys, vibrators, condoms, and lingerie, as well as funding non-profit social marketing organizations that address issues such as population growth, disease control and sex education in developing countries. In 2006, it was described by Reuters as one of the handful of studios that dominate the U.S. porn industry. The company is the largest mail-order distributor of condoms, sex toys, and erotica in the United States. Founder Phil Harvey has been called "one of the most influential figures in the American sex industry today". Its parent company, PHE Inc., is the largest private employer in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where its headquarters are situated.
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Origins
Adam & Eve was founded in 1970 by physician Paul Mueller and Phil Harvey. It started as a small storefront on one of Chapel Hill, North Carolina's main streets, selling condoms and lubricants. It soon became a mail-order catalog selling contraceptives through non-medical channels.
Harvey, having just returned from India as a part of the CARE pre-school feeding program, concluded that poor family planning was the source of many social problems. While still a graduate student at the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health, Harvey and Mueller conceived Adam & Eve to fund a non-profit organization in hopes of using the profits to finance family-planning programs in developing countries,. With a Ford Foundation fellowship, the two men devised a plan to use social marketing in the U.S., and with university consent, they began writing witty ad copy ("What will you get her this Christmas -- pregnant?") and advertising condoms in the mail. After running ads in 300 of the largest U.S. college newspapers, the orders started and did not stop. Though selling condoms via the mail was in violation of the Comstock Act (not overturned judicially in its entirety until 1972), Harvey and Mueller knew the law was rarely enforced. Success ensued, and the men began to see a profit, stating, "The mail-order condom market was just sitting there waiting for somebody," recalls Harvey. "We'd sit down at the end of the week and pay our bills and I'd say, 'There seems to be some money leftover here.' That's about how much we knew about business. He also gives authors a chance to write for his videos."
Population Services International
With business generating more than enough revenue to cover costs, the partners wondered if the condom business could create enough of a profit to finance overseas social-marketing projects. If so, they would have the ability to bypass conventional donors and function with complete autonomy. With that, the men launched Population Services International (PSI), and by 1975 were conducting condom marketing programs in Bangladesh and Kenya. Though Harvey left his position as the director in the late 1970s, PSI still sells birth control and health products in over 60 countries and is prominent in international family planning.
DKT International
In the late 1970s, Harvey focused more on running Adam & Eve, but in 1989, he launched DKT International (DKT), an organization that promotes family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Much of DKT's revenue comes from its sales of low-cost contraceptives, but Adam & Eve also donates more than 25% of its profits to DKT. While DKT's biggest programs draw funding from government agencies and foundations, its private funding allows it to be a more innovative and agile participant in its discipline. DKT's social marketing strategies have included advertising, creating location-specific brands, working with local social networks and militaries, and targeting high-risk groups.
Company Overview
Along with Adam & Eve's signature brand of erotic toys, Adam & Eve carries a variety of items for men, women and couples. In 2004, Adam & Eve started franchising its stores in the U.S. In 2009, the company donated funds to the Free Speech Coalition. Its contract stars to date have included Juli Ashton, Mari Possa, Austyn Moore, Carmen Luvana, Ava Rose, Sophia Lynn, Bree Olson, Kayden Kross, Alexis Ford, and Teagan Presley.
Awards
The following is a selection of awards Adam & Eve and its production company have won: