Adidas and Puma: Bron From the Rivalry of two Brothers changed the world of Sports

 A famous proverb says no friend is better than a brother. There is no enemy greater than a brother. We see this in normal life, but in Germany, a fight between two brothers not only divided an entire city but also sparked such a rivalry that it started a sponsorship competition in the world of sports that continues today

Be it the competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the world of beverages or in aviation, the competition between Airbus and Boeing is not as intense as that between the shoe companies Puma and Adidas. 

After the First World War, two German brothers, the Dassler brothers, founded a shoe manufacturing company called Gida, but the company closed down during the Second World War.

Adidas and Poma sports shoes

After World War II, the two brothers started their own separate companies. After that, a rivalry between Rudolph Dassler and Eddie Dassler began, which continues in one form or another to this day.

More recently, the rivalry between the two companies has also been seen during the Hamas-Israeli war, when Puma pulled out of sponsorship of the Israeli soccer team, while the CEO of Adidas ended its sponsorship in Palestine, saying that there There have been mass child deaths, but on the other hand, the company has removed Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid from an advertising campaign for its 'timeless classic' show 'SL72', created for the 1972 Munich Olympics, which says ' Boycott Adidas trends were seen.

A company is the result of brotherly love

The older brother Rudolf Dassler was born in 1898 in Herzoggenurch, Bavaria, Germany, and his younger brother Adolf Dassler was born two years later in 1900.

From the age of 21 to 19, both of them opened a shoe manufacturing company named Gabruder Dassler Schofibrik or Dassler Brother Shoe Company.

Barbara Smith wrote a book called Sneaker Wars about their rivalry, and a movie Adidas vs. Puma was also made about them.

 Author Barbara Smith wrote in Sneaker Wars that the two brothers somehow started the company out of their garage and within a few years had so many employees they had to relocate.

However, the joint company of the two brothers, 'Gida', sponsored the African-American athlete Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which was no less than a rebellion against Hitler.

When he won the gold medal, all eyes were on his shoes. He was wearing Gida shoes. However, Hitler did not shake hands with Owens even after winning the gold medal.

In addition, Gedda sponsored other German athletes who won gold and bronze medals. The company of these brothers went beyond the confines of Germany to international fame and importance.

Poma and Adidas companies

Origins of Enmity

The author of Sneaker Wars explained in his book that his wife was behind their rivalry as the two women did not get along at all. Until World War II broke out. Apart from this, Eddie was also said to attract women or attract them towards him and he is also said to be the cause of enmity.

On both occasions, they became convinced that Eddie had framed them and buried them, according to a report published in the business magazine Fortune, their suspicions were confirmed by a report by an American investigating officer. However, while Rudy is imprisoned in a war camp, Eddie resumes his business making shoes for American soldiers.

But after the end of World War II and his release, Rudy launched the Roda Shoe Company as an abbreviation of his name Rudolph, and the assets of the Gida Company were divided.