Adidas and Puma are widely known shoe brands that have operated in the market for a long period of time, creating fantastic collaborations with actors, influencers and both specialising in the sport sector, shaping beautiful and functional pairs of shoes, accommodating every customer’s need. But do you actually know that these two brands are brothers?

Back in 1924, in Germany, Adolf Dassler and Rudolf Dassler, also known as Adi and Rudi, founded the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, located in Herzogenaurach. This passion started at a young age turned them locally famous, making them able to open their own factory. In 1936, Adi got famous thanks to the shoes given to the Olympic Champion Jesse Owens, symbol of the racial stigma, boosting the reputation of the Dasslers: they became known worldwide for their performative shoes. But things took an unexpected turn when, during the 1940s, due to political and personal disagreement between the two brothers, the duo split. In 1948, in fact, two separate brands were created: Adi created Adidas, while Rudi founded Puma. 

Two brands, two visions

Adidas took its name from Adolf Dassler, merging “Adi” and “Das” (as part of his surname), represented by three diagonal stripes, first intended as a support for players that eventually evolved into symbols of performance and global reach. The second, instead, founded by Rudolf Dassler, chose a name inspired by the fast, powerful animal, reflected in its leaping puma logo symbolizing speed and agility: Puma.

In the last years of the 1940s, the two companies started a fierce competition, one against the other and as both remained based in Herzogenaurach, they turned the town into a divided community, which ironically became “the town of bent necks”, as people checked each other’s shoes. 

Thanks to the 1954 FIFA World Cup, in which Germany won thanks to Adi’s innovative screw-in studs, Adidas got more and more famous, starting important sponsors and partnerships with athletes and sports teams. Eventually, both brands grew global, intensifying the rivalry.

Rudolf Dassler died on October 27, 1974, at age 76. His brother, Adolf, died on September 6, 1978, at age 77. The two brothers were buried at opposite ends of the cemetery in their hometown, continuing the feud even in the afterlife.

However, every big story has a peaceful ending. In 2009, a symbolic reconciliation took place. Employees from Adidas and Puma played a friendly football match on International Day of Peace, symbolically ending the feud, which marked the story, the expansion, and the fame behind these iconic brands. 

Viola Spreafico