When Frederick Charles Herzog III, known simply as Zog in the surf world, began tinkering with wax in the early 1970s, he was not chasing a business empire. He was chasing quality. Surfing was the sport he loved and understood, and he wanted to create something he would use above all else. He knew that if the product worked for him, other surfers would embrace it too. With little more than a surfboard, a van, and a willingness to experiment, Zog set out to solve a problem surfers had lived with for years. That quest led him to chemist Nate Skinner.
Together, in a California garage, they mixed and refined formulas, personally testing each one in the surf. “Every time we came up with a new batch, I was off surfing with it,” Zog recalls. After enough failures, the formula finally clicked. The product spoke for itself. Surfers who tried it felt the difference instantly, and word began to spread.
When asked about the famously provocative name, Mr.Zog admitted it wasn’t a decision he made lightly, but it was one he never regretted. “I just wanted to have a little fun with it,” he explained, noting that the playful, slightly risqué label was meant to grab attention and make people smile. But he is quick to add that the name was never meant as a gimmick. “If you’re going to put something bold on the front of a product, the product itself better be good,” he said. That balance, a name that sparks curiosity and a formula that exceeds expectations, became the foundation for what would grow into one of surfing’s most iconic brands.
In the early days Zog wore every hat: inventor, salesman, marketer, and accountant. He packed bars of wax into his van and drove down the California coast, pitching to surf shops. Many resisted at first, wary of the name. “That first trip down, a few shops were completely out of wax,” Zog remembers. “They didn’t have a choice, so they bought some Sex Wax. That’s how it started, very slowly. But from there, it just evolved.”
Asked about those roles, Zog reminisces. “I actually enjoyed wearing all the hats. But being out there, talking to people face to face, sharing what we had made, that was the most rewarding. Seeing them try it, and then come back for more, that was when I knew we had something real.”
Sales started modestly. The first year Sex Wax earned $5,000, the next $8,000, then $16,000. But as surfers passed bars around, word of mouth drove the brand forward. Soon sales doubled year after year. By the late 1970s, Sex Wax was shipping to Japan and beyond. Waxing up was no longer just preparation, it became part of surfing’s identity.
“As the brand grew, Zog began offering a variety of waxes tailored specifically for surfers and the waters they rode—Cold, Cool, Warm, and Tropical. This allowed surfers to choose wax that matched their conditions.”
Even with success, Zog never chased mass-market expansion. Once the temperature-specific formulas were established, they experimented with waxes for snow sports, but he always kept the company surf-first. Along the way, customers reported quirky uses: bicycle chains, saddles, even ammunition. “Ammunition was probably the weirdest one we ever heard,” Zog laughs. But he never strayed from his core focus. “We’re pretty much a surfboard wax company,” he says. Even with the rise of e-commerce, he stayed loyal to the small surf shops that gave him his start. “We don’t want to be an Amazon. Those little shops built my business, and I’m sticking with them.”
After perfecting temperature-specific waxes and even developing products for snow sports, the company is now turning its attention to fragrance. Building on the success of their air fresheners, Sex Wax is expanding into this space as their latest step forward.
So what explains Sex Wax’s half century of success? The formulas worked. The name stuck. Even though the world has changed with products ordered from phones, social media feeling mandatory, food arriving by delivery apps, and cars driving themselves, Sex Wax has kept it simple. Surfers are still the same, and it is still about one thing: a bar of wax, a board, and heading out to sea. Maybe the best business advice of all is that staying at the top means knowing what really matters, being the best at it, and keeping it simple.
Today, as Zog eases into retirement, his son now manages day-to-day operations, passing the torch to the next generation. With family at the helm and team riders carrying the stoke, Sex Wax is proving it is more than just a product. It is a piece of surf history still being written.
