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Adam & Eve (business)
Encyclopedia
Adam & Eve is a marketer of adult products that sells sex toys and produces pornographic films, 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 pornographic films 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.
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 Black 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, Harvey and Black 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."
(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), 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.
Its contract stars to date have included Juli Ashton, Mari Possa, Austyn Moore, Carmen Luvana, Sophia Lynn, Bree Olson, Kayden Kross, Alexis Ford, and Teagan Presley.
Social marketing
Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing, along with other concepts and techniques, to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good. Social marketing can be applied to promote merit goods, or to make a society avoid demerit goods and thus to promote society's well being as...
organizations that address issues such as population growth, disease control and sex education in developing countries. In 2006 it was described by Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
as one of the handful of studios that dominate the U.S. porn industry
Pornography in the United States
In the United States, there have been several notable court decisions relating to the definition of pornography and obscenity, personal possession, and its relation to prostitution. The total market value of pornography in the U.S. is estimated between $2-$13 billion per year...
. The company is the largest mail-order distributor of condoms, sex toys and pornographic films in the United States. Founder Phil Harvey
Phil Harvey
Phil Harvey is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist and libertarian who over the past 30 years has set up large-scale programs that deliver subsidized contraceptives in poor countries. Harvey is the president of DKT International, the Washington, D.C.-based charity that implements family...
has been called "one of the most influential figures in the American sex industry
Sex industry
The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...
today". Its parent company, PHE Inc., is the largest private employer in Hillsborough, North Carolina
Hillsborough, North Carolina
Hillsborough is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,653 at the 2008 census. It is the county seat of Orange County....
, where its headquarters are situated.
Origins
Adam & Eve was founded in 1970 by physician Tim Black and Phil Harvey as 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
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
's School of Public Health, Harvey and Black 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, Harvey and Black 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 InternationalPopulation Services International
Population Services International is a global health organization with programs targeting malaria, child survival, HIV and reproductive health...
(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
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
.
DKT International
In the late 1970s, Harvey focused more on running Adam & Eve, but in 1989, he launched DKT InternationalDKT International
DKT International is a charitable non-profit organization that promotes family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention through social marketing. The Washington, D.C.-based DKT was founded in 1989 by Phil Harvey and operates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Much of its revenue comes from its sales of...
(DKT), an organization that promotes family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
and HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
prevention in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. Much of DKT's revenue comes from its sales of low-cost contraceptives
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
, 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
Social marketing
Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing, along with other concepts and techniques, to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good. Social marketing can be applied to promote merit goods, or to make a society avoid demerit goods and thus to promote society's well being as...
strategies have included advertising, creating location-specific brands, working with local social networks and militaries, and targeting high-risk groups.
American Cancer Society
Adam & Eve is currently giving donations to the American Cancer Society as well.Pornographic film studio
The major American pornographic film studios promote their latest releases to, and seek funds for new productions from the company, because of its huge buying power. In 2009 the company donated funds to the Free Speech CoalitionFree Speech Coalition
The Free Speech Coalition is a non-profit trade association of the pornography and adult entertainment industry in the United States...
Its contract stars to date have included Juli Ashton, Mari Possa, Austyn Moore, Carmen Luvana, 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:- 2003 AVN Award - 'Best Specialty Release, Other Genre' for Internal Affairs 5
- 2003 AVN award - 'Best Continuing Video Series' for Naked Hollywood
- 2004 AVN Award - 'Best Video Feature' for Rawhide
- 2005 AVN Award - 'Best Specialty Release - SpankingErotic spankingErotic spanking is the act of spanking another person for the sexual arousal or gratification of either or both parties...
' for Nina HartleyNina HartleyNina Hartley is an American pornographic actress, pornographic film director, sex educator, feminist, and author.-Early life:...
's Guide to Spanking - 2006 AVN Award - 'Best DVD' for Pirates
- 2006 AVN Award - 'Best Video Feature' for Pirates
- 2008 AVN Award - 'Top Selling Title of the Year – 2007' for Pirates
- 2008 Xbiz Award - 'Best Online Retailer - AdamEve.com'
- 2009 AVN Award - 'Best Sex Comedy' for Not Bewitched XXX
- 2009 AVN Award - 'Best Online Marketing Campaign - Individual Project' for 'Roller Dollz'
- 2009 AVN Award - 'Best Original Song' for 'Dark City'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene' for 'Deviance'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best All-Girl Three-Way Sex Scene' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best DVD Extras' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Editing' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best High End All-Sex Release' for 'Deviance'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best On-Line Marketing Campaign, Individual Project' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Original Song' for 'The Crack Pack'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Packaging Innovation' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Sex Comedy' for 'Not Airplane XXX: Flight Attendants'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Special Effects' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Video Feature' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN Award - 'Best Videography' for 'The 8th Day'
- 2010 AVN O Award - 'Lifetime Achievement' for Adam & Eve
- 2010 XBIZ AwardXBIZ AwardXBIZ Awards are given annually to honor "individuals, companies, performers and products that play an essential part in the growth and success of adult entertainment". Organized by the adult industry trade magazine XBIZ, the awards were first given in 2003...
- 'Peoples Choice - Feature Movie of the Year' for 'The 8th Day'