Unlikely Sex Toy Pioneers Create a Can-Do Dildo

In the middle of a bustling European trade show, Richard Almgren is creating a wonder of modern engineering. He scours his company's booth for a solution to fix the display upon which his entire product demonstration hinges: a minimalistic yet extremely leaky sink, which is threatening to dump gallons of water all over his first pleasure industry venture. Like most native Swedes, there isn't much Almgren can't fix, especially when it's an IKEA portable kitchen set. It doesn't take long before he realizes the solution is quite literally dangling in front of his face: strung-up Dodil dildos that Almgren's business partner, Peter Gustavsson, has artistically hung around their little slice of boxed-in floor space. He heads back to the kitchenette and pulls a warm, squishy-soft Dodil from the thermos of warm water where it soaks and strategically stuffs it into the open end of the leaking pipe. The Dodil's stress ball–esque composition of thermoplastic and silicone begins filling all the gaps until Almgren's temporary kitchen is no longer waterlogged. Leave it to a Scandinavian to create a sex toy that not only doubles as a pipe fitting, but also improves the structural integrity of IKEA furniture. Although when you consider the rather unsexy origins of this mint-green plastic marvel, it's almost surprising that the Dodil wound up as a sex toy in the first place. “I love inventing stuff,” says Richard Almgren, COO and co-founder of The Dodil. “I have piles of drawings and have been dreaming of solving problems all my life.” And that's just what Almgren, an engineer by trade, was doing when he discovered what would become his biggest brainchild. After developing a science nerd crush on a meltable, moldable form of thermoplastic—the same stuff that currently resides in the Dodil's core—Richard whipped up a prototype for a shape-shifting fishing lure. However, minds were already in the gutter when Almgren debuted his latest creation to a fellow designer. “One day, I brought my prototype—an oblong piece of this thermoplastic—to a good friend and maker of fishing lures to see if we could brain-storm up something like a ‘DIY-wobbler,’” recalls Almgren. “Somewhat puzzled when presented with this apparition, my friend says, ‘Hey, this looks like a dildo to me.’ This kindled the flame and the journey began.” The Dodil is innocent enough nestled in its color-coordinated thermos. Add hot water, and this formerly rock-hard, silicone skin dildo turns as soft and pliable as Stretch Armstrong. Bedroom play time turns into arts and crafts as users become impromptu dildo artists, molding and bending the toy with their hands or using the included orange vinyl string to create ripples and texture. Its guts are made of a thermoplastic that can handle a seemingly endless cycle of boiling and cooling, becoming completely stiff again with a splash of cold water. Almgren enlisted longtime family friend and fellow native Swede Peter Gustavsson to accompany him in this alternative sex toy adventure. Gustavsson, who resides in Germany and fills the role of Dodil's director of communications, arrived at his new vocation with years of experience doing just about everything except slinging dildos. After heading up marketing efforts for Systembolaget, Sweden's government-run alcohol dispensary, Peter jetted off for the exotic landscape of the East. “After some sales and marketing jobs, I eventually got to build an accommodation for backpackers in Indonesia,” recalls Gustavsson. “I had just about relocated to city life in Cologne, Germany, when Richard asked me to join the company.” Gustavsson and Almgren are a truly unique duo in the pleasure industry for reasons only veterans can really understand. They've approached this sensitive and often fickle market with an amount of common sense that's rarely found among new businesses in mainstream industries, much less sex toy start-ups, who often fumble through PR nightmares and potentially offensive copy writing. Although for anyone with a working knowledge of Sweden—a country whose military marches in the annual LGBTQ Pride parade—the Dodil's success doesn't come as such a surprise. “Richard and I are very Swedish, meaning we strongly believe in equality and diversity,” explains Gustavsson. “Even though we are newbies, we are confident in a strong and intriguing product. Nevertheless, we aim at staying true to our humble selves and approach the future with a teachable attitude.” Following the company's major launches at the respective Copenhagen and Stockholm Pride festivals last year, prospective users and potential retailers alike all shared a common sentiment of Almgren and Gustavsson. Simply put, they're a pair of genuinely good humans. “We build relations by just treating everybody with respect as individuals and plausible friends,” remarks Gustavsson. The team already holds a claim to fame as some of the most inclusive, sex-positive people to pop up in the pleasure sector. The Dodil brand presents a completely gender-neutral marketing scheme. In fact, you won't find a single photo of a human being anywhere on TheDodil.com. After making the blog rounds with the industry's notorious sex toy reviewers, Team Dodil was one of the few companies to emerged both unscathed and with consecutive thumbs-up across the board. For Almgren and Gustavsson, a consumer revolution—especially where masturbation is concerned—isn't built on gimmicky technology, flashy social media campaigns, or exaggerated advertising claims. At its core, Scandinavian design is all about clean shapes and simple mechanisms that actually make a better life—or elusive internal orgasms—within easy grasp. As Gustavsson concludes, “We are thrilled, proud and yet humbled to, as men, present a product and a brand that adapts to the user and not the other way around.” Eldorado Trading Company has partnered with Swedish-based manufacturer Dodil to distribute the company’s unique moldable dildo. 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