Adidas vs Puma, the incredible story of the fight between two brothers that brought the two famous brands to life

Feuds, betrayals, brilliant intuitions (and Nazism): The story of the Dasslers, the rival brothers who changed sport forever and conquered the world from a small Bavarian town.

Massimiliano Jattoni Dall'Asén*

Puma announced a few days ago the appointment of Arthur Hoeld as CEO of the group starting from July 1, 2025. Hoeld was previously head of sales at Adidas. Anyone familiar with the historic rivalry between these two sports brands will understand the bitter irony behind this role reversal. This is the next chapter (certainly not the last) of one of the most famous family feuds in the business world. It is the battle between one Dassler against another Dassler or Adidas against Puma.

A multi-generational feud that “changed the sports business forever,” as journalist Barbara Smit recounts in her latest book, “Challenge of the Century.” The story of the enemy brothers who founded Adidas and Puma, a book published in the UK in 2006 and recently published in Italy. According to Smit, the hate-filled rivalry between brothers Rudolf (1898-1974) and Adolf Dassler (1900-1978) “shaped the modern sports business, but not without corruption and tensions.”

infancy

This story full of twists (and punches) begins in the 1920s, in a Germany that was preparing to fall into the hands of Nazi terror. In fact, Nazism was an incentive for the Dassler brothers and their first shoe company, “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik”. We are in Herzogenaurach, a small town in Bavaria (located about 20 kilometers from Nuremberg) with a long tradition of shoemaking.

Even Christoph Dassler, the father of the protagonists of this story, although he came from a family of textile entrepreneurs and dyers, embraced this profession. His wife Algirdas, on the other hand, ran a dry cleaning shop in the back of the house. Adolf, known as Adi, was supposed to become a baker according to his parents, but the boy preferred sports and learned the basics of the craft from his father.

World War I engulfs everyone. Rudolf, known as Rudi, and Adi leave to join the army and upon their return find their mother's business closed due to the economic crisis that came with the conflict. Adi, who is now a visionary shoemaker, enters the laboratory and begins to produce sports shoes capable of having a direct impact on the athletic performance of those who wear them.

He opened the company with his brother, who had a great talent for trading, becoming the company's main salesman. The Dasslers are good. They know what they are doing, but all this is not enough for the big step. It took the right connection, Hitler's emphasis on sports and above all, the great opportunity that presented itself to their small company "Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik" at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

intuition

Adi's intuition is there. Wearing his sneakers by the best athletes, those who generate the most excitement in the public, would mean getting the most publicity possible. Adi works hard to ensure that the athletes' feet fit into his shoes. And he succeeds. But he did even more. During the Olympic Games he managed to ensure that Hitler's enemy, Jesse Owens, the African-American sprinter and jumper, who won 3 of his 4 gold medals wearing shoes manufactured by Adi Dassler, also wore them.

World War II

World War II marked another turning point in the lives of the Dassler brothers, but during this period the already tense relationship between the two worsened. Adi and Rudi lived under the same roof with their parents, but they did not get along well after Adi married Käthe Martz in 1934, who could not stand her husband's family. Rudi considered her the only real cause of disagreements with his brother.

His wife always interfered in matters related to the company. In fact, Rudi did not accept that his younger brother had become the de facto head of the Dassler family. Moreover, when he was recruited again in 1943, he believed that he would not find help from his brother, the help he had given him the year before, by exerting pressure on his acquaintances in the Nazi party to avoid the army and stay at the factory. Rudi's resentment turns into open hatred when, after Hitler's fall, the brothers are put on trial by the Allies for their membership in the Nazi party. Rudi is accused of belonging to the SS and is convinced that his brother had spied on him for this.

The birth of Adidas and Puma

After the charges were dropped, the two Dasslers split up the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik factory in 1947. Rudi founded a competing shoe company he called “Puma.” The employees most closely associated with production remained with Adi, who founded Adidas (a name derived from the combination of Adi and the first three letters of his surname). He trademarked the three-stripe design, a feature he had been using since the Olympics as a side decoration on his shoes, accented by a different color.

Nga ky moment, rivaliteti mes dy vëllezërve kthehet në një rivalitet korporativ që e ndan qytetin e Herzogenaurach në dy fraksione dhe i jep emrin “qyteti i qafës së përthyer”, për shkak të zakonit të përhapur në popullatë për të parë këpucët që mbante bashkëbiseduesi përpara se të fillonin një bisedë. Vëllezërit Dassler pushuan së foluri me njëri-tjetrin dhe nuk do ta bëjnë më kurrë këtë. Ata nuk do ta shihnin më njëri-tjetrin deri në vdekjen e Rudit më 27 tetor 1974. Adi e ndoqi 4 vjet më vonë, më 6 shtator 1978. Të dy sot janë varrosur në varrezat e Herzogenaurach, por në dy parcela të ndryshme, sa më larg nga njëra – tjetra, sipas amanetit të Adi Dassler.

Fabrika e pare e vëllezërve Dassler

Trashëgimia

Kur Adi dhe Rudi vdiqën, ata ua lanë perandoritë e tyre, djemve të tyre të pasuar edhe me një trashëgimi urrejtjeje. Kushërinjtë Dassler nuk kanë qenë kurrë në marrëdhënie të mira, pavarësisht nga një lloj pakti jo-sulmues i nënshkruar në fillim të viteve 1970, kur konkurrenca amerikane nga markat si Reebok dhe Nike i detyroi ata të bënin “paqe”. Marrëveshja në atë kohë ishte që të mos përpiqeshin të nënshkruanin me futbollistin më të madh të kohës, Pelé. Mirëpo, qetësinë e prishi Puma pasi Armini, djali i Rudi kontaktoi futbollistin dhe i ofroi sponsorizim, duke indinjuar kreun e Adidas-it, kushëririn e tij Horst.

Ryshfetet

Pika thelbësore e librit shumë të këndshëm të Barbara Smit është se grindja midis degëve Puma dhe Adidas të familjes Dassler fsheh nga pas edhe ryshfete dhe sponsorizime miliona dollarëshe, të cilat kanë formësuar sportin modern, profesional dhe amator. Që nga Olimpiada e parë e pasluftës, Dassler-ët kanë dërguar zarfe me para për atletët në një kohë kur lëvizja olimpike përpiqej t’i rezistonte komercializimit. Smit, e cila ka shkruar për Financial Times dhe Economist, citon një sprinter amerikan i cili garoi në Lojërat Olimpike të Tokios në vitin 1964.

“Ishte si në një film të James Bond-it apo një thriller. Në Tokio, një oficer shkonte në banjë dhe linte një çantë poshtë derës, dhe unë hyja menjëherë pas tij. Aty merrje nga 700 deri në 10 mijë dollarë”. Atletët, të hidhëruar që nuk paguheshin për përpjekjet e tyre olimpike, por nuk thonë jo për të luajtur me Puma kundër Adidas, duke kërkuar gjithnjë e më shumë para nga rivali me kalimin e kohës.

Horst Dassler

Në realitet, sipas Smit, ishte një tjetër grindje familjare që nxiti korrupsionin e lëvizjes olimpike, ajo mes Adit dhe djalit të tij Horst. Pasardhësi u dërgua në Alsace për të krijuar një divizion të Adidas që do të shitej vetëm në Francë. Por Horst, një njeri jashtëzakonisht ambicioz, nuk ishte i kënaqur thjesht të priste radhën dhe e shndërron cepin e tij të kompanisë në një lloj perandorie sekrete që vepron kundër vullnetit të shprehur të prindërve të tij. Horst themelon një kompani në hije për të fshehur disa linja prodhimi prej tyre.

He befriends all the important officials in the world of sports, including those responsible for the Olympics. However, he knows how to serve them and, above all, how to corrupt them. He quickly realized that owning the rights to sporting events could be a multi-million dollar business. When he died in 1987, aged just 51, the revelation of his secrets nearly bankrupted Adidas.

Nike's competition

There is another dark cloud hanging over this story. One that emerged from a small running shoe company in Oregon, founded by Phil Knight, a man as ambitious as Horst Dassler. That company, originally called Blue Ribbon Sports, is now known as Nike. Much more than Adidas or Puma, Nike helped transform sneakers into a shoe that everyone, not just athletes, wore. It understood marketing far better than its European rivals and eventually outpaced them. When it comes to transforming sports, few moments are more significant than Nike’s decision to sign Michael Jordan, paying him millions to wear its shoes and launch a brand bearing his name that would one day cost more than $100 a pair. Nothing, Smit explains, has changed in the business of sports. But that is another story and another book.

*Corriere della Sera

nga e majta adolf dassler dhe rudolf dassler

fabrika e pare e vellezerve dassler 640x480

horst dassler