Adidas-Puma: Brothers in rival feet

IBN News

Herzogenaurach (Germany): Football doesn't require a lot of equipment. But shoes, obviously, are important.

A seemingly sleepy bavarian town, Herzogenaurach is a thousand-year-old backdrop for modern-day cut-throat competition.

It is something to do with women, with World War II, whatever, but nobody knows. On the other hand I think that this competition and this rivalry between the two families also made these 2 companies what they are.

This is Adidas and Puma country - a sibling rivalry that forged two fierce competitors now jostling for a marketing victory at the World Cup, business light years away from when Adolf and Rudolf Dassler founded a company here in the 1920's.

At the 1936 Olympics, Jesse Owens ran in their shoes to stymie Hitler's dream of a master race. But after World War II the Dassler brothers split, for reasons unclear.

Mayor Hans Lang says, "at some point it was right they went their own ways, because each was the king of his castle."

The rivalry affected the whole town. The families and their workers avoided each other's bars, shops and sporting clubs.

Helmut Fischer, a Puma official for 29 years, says even marrying across company lines was a no-no. He married a Puma.

On asking if he had any girlfriends on the Adidas side, the Puma accountant said: "no more in the moment" and laughed.

Battling for the world's feet is a serious and lucrative business.

The small-town family feud has turned into corporate hardball over global markets, and over room to play it on.

Adidas got this old US army barracks outside town to expand. And Puma wasn't happy about it.

That put the mayor in a squeeze to give Puma more space as well. No sneakers in this interview, though he insists he wears both companies' shoes.

Even before the final whistle at this World Cup, the cross-town rivalry is gearing up for the next - in South Africa.

Puma are the clear number one in terms of supplying and endorsing teams, about 10 in Africa.

The only team which has qualified for 2010 is already sponsored by Adidas. That's South Africa. And Adidas are the official sponsor, supplier and licensee of the World Cup.

In this small town, the spin-meisters are already aiming to score points in a competition halfway around the world, four years away.

Never knew Adidas and Puma founders are brothers!

Wow, good find Cloudy.

EDIT: Mini-game from that site:
http://www.ibnlive.com/football/football_game.php

Last edited by shadowgrin on Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

sweet stuff. very cool indeed

Nice read.

I currently prefer Puma though.