Dassler brothers feud

Their feud led to the creation of Adidas and Puma, two of the biggest shoe manufacturing companies, and started a long-lasting rivalry between the two companies, reflected in rivalries between football clubs and a culture of animosity between Puma and Adidas employees that divided their home town.

[1] The most notable event that fuelled the rivalry was the "Pelé Pact", where both agreed not to sign a deal with Pelé for the 1970 World Cup, feeling that a bidding war for the most famous athlete in the world would become too expensive, only for Puma to break the pact and sign him.

Two reasons for the feud that are cited are strife between their respective wives, who did not get along, yet were forced to live in the same villa, and Rudolf's increasing suspicion that his brother Adi was behind his conscription into the army and thus his short imprisonment by the Allies.

Employees of the two firms and their families avoided speaking to each other; they patronized separate bars, bakeries and barber shops.

From people's habit of looking at each other's shoes to see whether they were affiliated with Adidas or Puma, Herzogenaurach got the nickname "the town of bent necks".

[1] West Germany was allowed to participate in the 1954 World Cup, the first to be televised; Adidas and Puma worked to change people's perception of their sporting brands and achieve international exposure.

[7] Praised as a shrewd marketing move by Puma, the Pelé deal fuelled the Dassler brothers rivalry, and many business experts credit the rivalry and competition between Adidas and Puma for transforming sports apparel into a multi-billion pound industry.

[9] The breaking of the Pelé Pact is featured in Barbara Smit’s book, Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud That Forever Changed the Business of Sports.