Adidas Vs Puma: The Sibling’s Rivalry

Herzogenaurach a German town was the birth place for both Adidas and Puma. 

But do you know these founders are actually brothers!! 

But their sibling rivalry has contributed to the creation of these world famous companies.

In the 1920s, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler started a shoe company together in their mother's laundry room. By 1927, Sportfarbrik Gebrüder Dassler, Geda for short, had grown to 12 employees. 

Their big breakthrough came at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin where the athletes they provided sneakers received seven gold medals and five silver and bronze medals between them. 

Their success would continue to sore but the Second World War started. During the War, Geda was converted into an weaponry factory. Rudolf was drafted while Adolf stayed at home. Rudolf blamed his brother that he deliberately planned to get him sent to the front and killed. Rudolf was arrested twice, first by the Nazis for deserting his post and later by the Allies. While Rudolf was stuck as a prisoner of war, Adi began selling shoes to American military servicemen. This caused a rift between the brothers. 

Though another theory claims that Adolf was jealous of his brother. There was a rumour that something happened between Rudolf and his brother's wife. Rudolf was known as a womaniser.

There is also a story that during an Allied bombing, Rudolf and his wife were already hiding in a shelter. When Adolf and his spouse arrived, Adolf made a comment about the town getting bombed again. Rudolf mistook Adolf comment as a personal attack against him.

Though it is not known what incident evoked the misunderstanding between brothers, their rivalry continued. In 1947-1948 they divided their company equally. Adolf formed Adidas and Rudolf formed Ruda ( later changed it to Puma).

Their separation divided their town by company loyalty. Marrying or dating anyone from the rival company was forbidden. There were businesses that would serve only Adidas or Puma customers. Some said that people in Herzogenaurach would first check your shoe brand before deciding whether to start a conversation. 

The town’s 2 football teams were split between the two brands. ASV Herzogenaurach was supported by Adidas and 1 FC Herzogenaurach was supported by Puma.

There is doubt whether the brothers reconciled. 

One theory suggests that in 1974, these siblings had a secret meeting in Nuremberg for half a day. But they didn’t reveal it due to business issues. There are also saying that the brothers never talked after their rift. After death they were buried at opposite ends of the same cemetery in town. In 2009, members of both companies played a friendly game of soccer against each other.

There is a movie telling the stories of these siblings named : Adidas Vs Puma - That’s the name of the game.

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