Frederick Charles Herzog, III aka Mr Zog
Most of us that enjoy surfing satires believe that Lewis Samuels of the late PostSurf was the original. Or maybe is was guys like Derek Rielly of StabMag. Little did we know that one of surfing’s iconic product founders was ahead of his time in other ways too. There are plenty of sites out now that have a similar mission statements and that is to screw with people.
Frederick Charles Herzog, III, who is also known to many as Mr. Zog. Zog is the founder of Zog’s Sex Wax®. He was a shaper back in the very early 70s around the Santa Barbara area. Zog opened a surf shop there as well. He was a surfer who remained loyal to his area throughout the years. He surfed local breaks such as Church, Doheny and Trestles. Zog wanted to remain fairly close to his upbringing by going to college at University of California – Santa Barbara. The bonus being near the breaks of Haskells, El Capitan, Depressions as well as others. The ocean appears to be his lifeline.
The Original Sex Wax
During those early years Frederick met a guy named Nate Skinner. Nate was also a chemist who worked with Zog in developing the formula for Sex Wax. Herzog also had another friend who was an artist. Hank Pitcher worked up the new logo design for Sex Wax. It was bold. Use the word Sex on a product that has nothing to do with sex. Unless you ask Jordy or the Prince of Poontang Slater.
Also during these early years that Zog started a monthly periodical called The Zog Newsletter. This newsletter was written by Zog and his friends. It title banner said “Distributed Free For the Benefit of Mankind”. At first, it was only seen locally. After some time, it could be found up and down the California coast.
Surfings Original Satire Form - The Zog Newsletter
This newsletter was filled with funny stories such as “Medical Mis-advice from Nurse Nancy” and “I Was A Teenage Communist Nymphomaniac”. Stories were written for laughs and to push the envelope. Did they offend people? Sometimes. Hell, there are people who are still offended because his charter product has the word ‘Sex’ on it.
Sadly as Zog’s Sex Wax business grew, he found himself with less time to work with the newsletter. You can visit the Zog website to review one of the issues along with the stories.
If you appreciate surfing satire from this site as well as the others, stop by your local surf shop and buy a couple of bars of Sex Wax in appreciation of Mr. Zog.
Pretty cool stuff.
