The founders of Adidas and Puma are brothers. The founder of Adidas is Adolf Adi Dassler, while the founder of Puma is Rudolf Dassler.

Rudolf Dassler joined his younger brother Adolf Dassler (nicknamed Adi) in the Dassler company in Herzolach in 1924 and changed the company's name to Dassler Brothers. .

In 1948, Adolf Dassler changed the name of the Dassler Brothers Company to adidas with the combination of his own name Adi and das. The two brothers parted ways since then, and his brother Rudolf Dassler established a separate company PUMA. , with the same direction as Adidas, both focusing on the production of sporting goods, and the two have since become competitors.

Extended information

The cooperation and disputes between Adolf Dassler and Rudolf Dassler

1. Brothers who work together can be as powerful as gold

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As the business gradually grew, in 1924 Adolf invited his brother Rudolf Dassler, who was two years older than him, to join him, and established the Dassler Brothers Sports Shoe Factory that year.

In the beginning, this pair of brothers formed a golden alliance. Adolf, who liked to be nicknamed "Adi", was silent, reserved and practical, like a restrained and cultivated artist. Rudolf, who once worked as a salesman in a leather company, is a natural marketing expert. To this end, Adolf became the company's designer, and Rudolf was mainly responsible for bringing the product to market.

The early development of Dassler Brothers was quite smooth. In 1928, the shoes made by Dassler made their debut at the Olympic Games, and the brothers were very excited. Four years later, a German sprinter won a 100-meter bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympics wearing Dassler sneakers.

During the Olympic Games, Dassler Brothers was able to sell 10,000 pairs of running shoes and football shoes each year and had more than 70 employees. In that era when cars were just "toys" for the rich, Rudolf was already enjoying a Mercedes racing car. Adolf was more frugal, but he also drove a motorcycle imported from Britain.

The good reputation of Dassler shoes soon spread to the ears of German track and field team coach Joseph Weitz. With his help, the brothers successfully entered their products into the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

2. Misfortunes lead to the collapse of the wall, and the same room is at war

With the outbreak of World War II, conflicts between Adolf and Rudolf intensified due to different business concepts. In 1943, during an Allied air raid, when When Adolf and his wife climbed into the air-raid shelter at home, Rudolf and his wife were already inside. "The beast is back again," Adolf said. It was obvious that he was talking about the air raid planes, but in Rudolf's view , Adolf was insulting him, and the two brothers ignored each other.

Another theory is that after the end of World War II, when the Allies were investigating whether the Dassler Shoe Factory had any ties to the Nazis, Adolf betrayed his brothers and was acquitted. Returning to take charge of the shoe factory, Rudolf became an American prisoner of war due to his brother's denunciation.

Because during the "World War II", both brothers joined the Nazi Party, but had different political opinions. Rudolf had a radical personality and was more "loyal" to the Nazis. He once made boots and anti-aircraft guns for Germany, while Adolf He secretly rescued many Jews.

So far, the real reason why Adolf and Rudolf turned against each other is still a mystery, but the Dassler shoe factory has reached the edge of splitting because of this. After Rudolph was released in 1946, he had to move his family to the other side of the small river in the town and built another small shoe factory from scratch.

From then on, the two brothers Adolf began to go their separate ways, and started a long "fighting" battle just a few kilometers apart. In 1948, Rudolf officially named the company "Puma", and then Adolf also registered the "Adidas" trademark. In the following decades of competition, Adidas and Puma traded offenses and defenses. The quadrennial World Cup has become a battleground for the two brothers.

Baidu Encyclopedia--PUMA--Brand History

People's Daily Online--Adidas VS Puma: We are born from the same roots, so why rush into each other?