A Tale of Two Sneakers

Adidas and Puma may be among the most recognized brands in the world, but neither might exist if not for a bitter rivalry between two brothers from a little-known village in Germany. In the 1920s, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, a soft-spoken sports fanatic who spent hours working on shoe designs in his workshop, and Rudolf Dassler, a gregarious salesman, started a small shoemaking business in the Bavarian enclave of Herzogenaurach, focusing primarily on hand-sewn athletic footwear. But as their business took off, the two brothers grew increasingly frustrated with each other. They disagreed on everything from politics, the future of the company and one another's choice in wives.

Finally, in the mid-1940s Rudolf left in a huff and set up a rival shop across the river, while Adi remained in the initial plant. His company was renamed Adidas, and in 1948 Rudolf registered his new company, Puma. NEWSWEEK's Jennifer Barrett spoke with Barbara Smit, author of the new book "Sneaker Wars" (Ecco; $26.95), about how a family feud spawned two of the biggest brands in global sports. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Most people wearing Pumas or Adidas today likely have no idea that two estranged German brothers founded the companies. How did you become interested in their story?
Barbara Smit: I didn't know it either, actually. I'd been wearing Adidas all my life and had no idea. But I was sent to Herzogenaurach, Germany [where both companies are based] by a French magazine to write a feature ahead of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. I began to find out more about this story of the two brothers, [and it had] all the elements of what makes a good story: family drama, the intimate rivalry between the two brothers in a very closed setting, two international brands, and all of it set in the world of sports.

What was the extent of the brothers' involvement in the Nazi Party, and how much of a role do you think that had to do with their split?
It was very difficult for any German company during those times to continue to operate without having some kind of links with the party, especially if it involved sports, which was very much at the heart of the Nazi propaganda machine. The Dasslers had ties with the sports hierarchy … It certainly helped in gaining access to the Olympic grounds in 1936 when they had this superb linkup with Jesse Owens.

That was a real coup for their shoe business, but it must have been a controversial decision at the time to pursue an African-American who was competing against the Germans for the gold.
Adi just had this obsession with sports at the complete exclusion of anything else. He just picked Jesse Owens out because he was a fabulous athlete. But in the end the entire environment of the war and politics really tore the brothers apart, and the involvement of their wives [who did not get along] brought it to a boiling point.

When each decided to form his own company, the original names were created by using the first two letters of the first names: Addas and Ruda. How did they become Adidas and Puma?
There was actually a children's shoe brand with the name Addas, so Adi added an i. In Rudolf's case, his marketing flair and his assistants probably told him that Ruda wasn't very inspiring. So he changed it.

Adidas quickly became a much larger company than its rival. Where did Puma go wrong?
One of the critical failures for Puma was that Rudolf had an argument with the coach of the German soccer team, and that allowed Adidas an opening before the 1954 World Cup, where, completely against all odds, West Germany won against Hungary … Adi Dassler was in all the [newspaper] pictures; he was everywhere. And the Adidas black boots with the stripes were on all the players. From that moment on they received letters from around the world from people wanting to sell Adidas in other countries. As good as the Puma boots were, it would take many years to build up its international business.