The rivalry between adidas and Puma

The rivalry that many are unaware of. This competition / rivalry between two of the world’s best-known brands was, and remains, more than just a simple business rivalry. We are dealing with a family feud that arose between the Dassler brothers: Adolf and Rudolph, who ended up parting ways and splitting between them a company that at the time dominated the commercial sector in which it operated. A feud that ended up dividing even the inhabitants of the small town of Herzogenaurach.

The adidas and Puma brothers

The Dassler brothers were the sons of a former shoe factory worker. Having recently returned from fighting in the First World War, they both decided to set up a German shoe factory, the famous Gerbüder Dassler Schuhfabrik. This idea—or dream—was driven by a desire or motive that was a secret to everyone except the two brothers. We must bear in mind that two of the world’s biggest sports brands still exist today because the Dassler brothers decided to make shoes due to the poor quality of those they had worn during the Great War. From the outset, it was easy to see the perfect harmony in which the two brothers worked. Adolf was the mastermind behind all the shoe development, whilst Rudolph was in charge of selling them.

One of the most striking episodes in the success of the Dassler family business in the run-up to the Second World War was that Rudolph and Adolf, despite being members of the Nazi Party, managed to persuade Jesse Owens to wear their running shoes during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The brothers’ split took place during the Second World War, a troubled period in which major family disputes led to arguments between the brothers’ wives. The whole situation eventually came to a head, leading to the brothers’ separation, with Rudolph leaving to join the military and his brother insisting on staying behind to run the company. The Second World War ended in 1945, and following these internal disputes between them, the final split came in 1948. Consequently, it divided a city, families, friends and careers.

adidas

The adidas brand as we know it today was founded in 1949, and its name derives from its founder, Adolf Dassler – ADIDAS. Among other things, adidas grew thanks to successful events such as the 1954 World Cup final in Switzerland, where Adolf Dassler fitted the German footballers’ adidas boots with aluminium studs to prevent them from slipping in the rain – a world first in the world of football boots at the time.

To this day, other key moments remain etched in our memory, such as the launch of the adidas Copa Mundial boots in 1982, which remain one of the best-selling football boots in the world to this day. And it is through episodes such as this, and Adolf’s exceptional insight into how to create and design new products, that a brand like adidas has achieved such success and continues to thrive today.

Puma

Like his brother, Rudolph decided, just moments after the split in 1948, to set up his own company, and so Ruda was born – the company’s original name, which was later changed to Puma. However, the brand did not take off as quickly as Rudolph had hoped. We must remember that the brains behind the product were on the other side of the barricades, whilst on this side of the barricades there was cunning, an extreme ability to negotiate and place products anywhere. We cannot forget that the idea of asking Jesse Owens to wear shoe from the Dassler brothers’ factory in 1936 came from both brothers, but it was Rudolph who sealed the deal.

However, despite the constant struggles at the outset of the company’s formation, it was in the 1970s—and more specifically during the 1970 World Cup—that the German brand achieved its greatest success, thereby writing a chapter in its history that would forever define its essence and, at the same time, ensure its survival to this day. We are at the quarter-final match of the 1970 World Cup between Brazil and Peru, where the star Pelé, before the game began, simply crouched down and tied the laces of his boots with great composure. Naturally, all eyes were on the Brazilian player and World Cup star, which made it all the easier to see that Pelé was wearing a pair of all-black Puma King football boots with the white Puma logo.

From 1948 until the brothers’ deaths, neither spoke to the other again, and there are even rumours of guerrilla-style battles between the two brands, as well as family espionage. And the truth is that right up until their deaths, neither brother ever spoke to the other again, and even today, if there is a successful international brand like Nike, one could even say that both brothers are to blame, because their internal feud has allowed Nike to gain ground all this time. Today, both brothers are buried in the same cemetery, but in completely different and separate plots. Even in death, their feud was taken to a completely extreme level.

adidas VS puma

The rivalry between the two companies officially came to an end in 2009, when employees from both companies played a friendly football match. The result is history.