Naturally, Rudolf broke off from Dassler and opened his own shoe store called Puma. Adi renamed his store Adidas. The whole town of Herzogenaurach got involved in the feud and sided with one shoe store or the other. Anyway, eventually the brothers realized if they wanted to sell more merchandise than the other, they'd need famous athletes to wear their stuff. This explains why the Olympics are the marketing circus they are these days. If you need a new read for the L-train, Dutch journalist Barbara Smit wrote a book about all this called Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud .
Now go to a cocktail party and start a conversation. You're welcome.
Sneakers, Nazis, and a Family Feud [Business Wire via Jezebel]
Email
Link
Print
