 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | E Commerce |
| Founded | 1970; 55 years ago (1970) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Founders | Phil Harvey Tim Black |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Sex toys,personal lubricants,condoms,Lingerie,vibrators |
| Parent | PHE, Inc. |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Adam & Eve is an American independent company that sells adult products throughe-commerce. In 2004, it was the largest mail order distributor ofsex toys,condoms, and erotica in the United States.[1] Its parent company, PHE Inc., is the largest private employer inHillsborough, North Carolina, where its headquarters are located. The company funds non-profit social marketing organizations that address issues such as population growth, disease control, and sex education in developing countries.
The firm was founded in 1970 by British physicianTim Black and Americanentrepreneur,philanthropist andlibertarianPhil Harvey. It started as a small storefront inChapel Hill, North Carolina, selling condoms and lubricants. It soon became a mail-order catalog selling contraceptives through non-medical channels.[1]
While still graduate students in family planning and population dynamics at theUniversity of North Carolina's School of Public Health, they conceived the firm to fund a non-profit organization to use the profits to finance family-planning programs in developing countries.[2]
With aFord Foundation fellowship, they devised a plan to usesocial marketing in the U.S., and with university consent, they began writing witty ad copy ("What will you get her this Christmas -- pregnant?")[2] and advertising condoms in the mail and 300 of the largest U.S. college newspapers. Though selling condoms via the mail violated theComstock Act (not overturned in its entirety until 1972), they knew the law was rarely enforced. They began to see a profit, stating, "The mail-order condom market was just sitting there waiting for somebody," recalls Harvey. "[2]
With the business generating enough revenue to cover costs, the partners wondered if the condom business could create enough 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 launchedPopulation 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 internationalfamily planning.
In the late 1970s, Harvey focused more on running Adam & Eve, but in 1989, he also launchedDKT International (DKT), an organization that promotesfamily planning andHIV/AIDS prevention inAfrica,Asia, andLatin America.[1][3] Much of its revenue comes from its sales of low-costcontraceptives, but Adam & Eve also donates more than 25% of its profits.[3][4] While its biggest programs draw funding from government agencies and foundations, its private funding allows it to greater freedom.[5] Itssocial marketing strategies have included advertising, creating location-specific brands, working with local social networks and militaries, and targeting high-risk groups.[5][6][7][8][9]
Along with Adam & Eve's brand of erotic toys, the firm carries a variety of items for men, women, and couples. In 2004, it started franchising its stores in the U.S. and abroad. In 2009, the company donated funds to theFree Speech Coalition.[10] In 2019, it acquired the Excite Group, Australia's largest online adult retailer.