How a California father and son turned a rubber goods firm into a $300MILLION sex toy company: Doc Johnson specializes in plaster casting OnlyFans models’ and adult actors’ genitals
A father-and-son duo have made millions a year from an unusual business venture – plaster casts of the genitalia of adult workers and OnlyFans models for the province’s biggest sex toy manufacturer.
Doc Johnson’s founder Ron Braverman, 76, started out with a small rubber goods firm called Marche Manufacturing, but he then began creating ‘marital aids’ almost 50 years ago.
With the help of his son Chad, who is the chief operating officer, the company brings in $300 million in annual retail revenue and manufactures its pleasure products on American soil, in their 250,000 square meter North Hollywood factories.
Since 1976, many of Doc Johnson’s best-selling products have been lifelike reproductions of porn stars’ private parts – which can be used by customers.
Ron Braverman and his son Chad are the bosses at Doc Johnson – and have helped the company become the largest manufacturer of sex toys in the country
Recently, OnlyFans star Lumi Ray, 26, took a trip to the factory in West Hollywood to have impressions taken of her genitalia and mouth – ready to be made into products
The Sasha Gray Masturbator, modeled on the actress, currently retails for $25. They also cast male porn star James Deen’s erect appendage and anus in polymer over the years – which was a bestseller.
With 2,000 unique sex toys actively in production and 12,000 pieces produced daily, the 500 Doc Johnson employees have helped the company become a powerhouse in the $32.7 billion-a-year pornography industry.
Adult artist Belle Knox also had her private parts plastered for the company in 2014.
Recently, OnlyFans star Lumi Ray, 26, took a trip to the factory in West Hollywood to have impressions taken of her genitalia and mouth – ready to be made into products.
Hot water is added to a seaweed-based powder compound, which it applies to the desired body function. It then solidifies, and manufacturers can use the mold in production.
The custom-molded pleasure products quickly became their unique selling point—and helped Doc Johnson stand out among competitors in the billion-dollar industry.
At her casting, Ray joined the LA Times: ‘It connects with fans on a different level. This – I feel that they can have a part of me.’
They also sell a plethora of butt plugs, penis pumps, clitoral stimulators. But sometimes even the bosses can’t predict what will sell well.
Autumn is the strong season for sex toy sales, and purple vibrators are flying off the shelves – but their stock is constantly ebbing and flowing among consumers.
However, it’s no surprise that 2020 was by far the best year in the company’s history for sales, with the world huddled at home during the pandemic.
CEO Chad Braverman told Forbes: ‘We’re making a product that you can use alone, that you can use with your partner, that can improve your sex life together, for white people, black people, Europeans, any culture, any race, any creed, any sexual orientation.
‘Our market is basically everyone over 18. We are not a niche company. We make product for everyone.’
A mold of female genitalia is molded by an employee at Doc Johnson headquarters in North Hollywood
Bringing in $300 million in annual retail revenue, Doc Johnson manufactures its highly sought after products on American soil in their 250,000 square foot North Hollywood factory
They have also over the years cast male porn star James Deen’s erect appendage and anus in polymer
Founded in North Hollywood, California in 1976, iconic pleasure products brand is at the forefront of innovation in the sex industry.
Under his sex toy revolution, Doc Johnson created the original Pocket Rocket – a name ‘that has become so famous that it remains synonymous with the type of little external-use vibes tucked into every woman’s nightstand.’
And Braverman’s brand also created the iconic and ubiquitous Rabbit-style vibe, which the company says changed ‘the way America talks about sex toys and female pleasure.’
Today, Doc Johnson still manufactures more than 75 percent of their products in America, and they boast that they create the “highest quality and most well-designed products on the market.”
Doc Johnson was also a purveyor of all kinds of fantasies along the spectrum of sexuality. Their Vac-U-Lock system is a patented harness and plug system that has ‘strap-on game turned around’.
Model Sasha Grey, who had her genitals cast at the company
Heated raw materials for filling molds pour from a pipe at the Doc Johnson sex toy company’s factory
Their team says the company ‘is dedicated to advancing the individual pursuit of pleasure, and the health and relationship benefits fostered by healthy sexuality.’
Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Chad, who now works at his father’s company, had no idea what dad Ron actually did for a living.
He told Forbes in 2017: ‘It was basically pre-internet and definitely pre-Google, so there was no real way to find out anything about my dad or the company without hearing it firsthand.
‘Mum and Dad agreed it was best to kind of keep it out of the public knowledge, so people wouldn’t judge me or not let their kids hang out with me.
“I think there was more of a stigma to the industry than there is today.”
The sex toy magnate started working for his father’s company at 15, loading shipping packages before working in the packaging and filing department the following year.
By his senior year of high school, he was working in the purchasing department – and it did wonders for Chad’s pubescent social life.
Porn star Belle Knox – who also had her private parts plastered for the company
A mold of adult film actress Belle Knox’s anatomy is displayed for a photograph in the design room at the Doc Johnson Enterprises manufacturing facility
He told Los Angeles Magazine in 2012: ‘Studying with Doc Johnson was like receiving special powers bestowed from the sex toy gods.’
He went on to study at the University of Miami and received a degree in business management and marketing before returning to the family business. Chad said, ‘At least we didn’t produce something bland like mattresses.’
But he also admits that he has had to work hard because he is the ‘fake baby’ of the sex toy industry.
Chad told the LA Times: ‘If you work in a family business for your parent, you’re going to be a nepo baby. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t bother me if someone only knew me as the owner’s son.’
The COO also makes sure the company is changing with the times – and in a few weeks, Doc Johnson’s walls in sex shops will carry tests for pregnancy, ovulation and drugs including fentanyl.
They will also provide supplies of over-the-counter female contraception similar to Plan B, LA Times reports.