The great war between Puma and Adidas that set fire to Pelé, the brand man

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, nicknamed Pelé, was a pioneer footballer in many dribbling and sporting flourishes, but also the promoter of a media revolution in the world of football. The Brazilian legend became an icon, a gold-plated brand man who staged marketing wonders that are taken for granted today. In this race to become a millionaire, Pelé even found himself involved in the most fratricidal battle between the greats of sport: Puma against Adidas, founded by the brothers Rudi and Adi Dassler, respectively. The Dasslers, sons of a shoemaker, had all the ingredients to succeed, but separately. Returning from World War I, Adolf Dassler began producing his own sports shoes in his mother’s laundry. The family supported this initiative and, in 1924, Rudolf Dassler joined the business. The brand was called the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, but because of money, jealousy, ego and the rise of Nazism, the two brothers separated their paths. The company experienced tremendous initial success and sales skyrocketed when Adi invented screw-in bits. The brothers convinced sprinter Jesse Owens to wear them at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Related News Pelé’s standard winners No Farewell to the absolute legend of the IM World Cup The recently deceased Pelé lifted the most prestigious title in the world of soccer three times, a milestone that no one could match yet During World War II, the factory was became a supplier of military boots and grenade launchers to the Wehrmacht. Rudi was mobilized during the conflict, while Adi remained in Germany. This made him intimate with prominent members of the Nazi Party and the Waffen SS, so that at the end of the war he had to explain his business. Convinced that his sister had ratted him out, Adi confronted Rudi. Rudolf Dassler founded his own factory, PUMA AG, in 1948, originally named ‘Ruda’ in a failed pun, while Adi Dassler took control of the entire company and decided to rename the firm ‘adidas’ (a combination of his name and surname), which was legally registered on August 18, 1949, under the name of Adidas AG. They each set up their own tent on opposite sides of the city. The war had started… At the 1954 World Cup, Adi managed to get his boots from Germany just when Puma was the most popular brand. The rivalry experienced its most serious moment during the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, when Adidas managed to veto Puma from the entire event. After years without speaking and constant underground fights, both brothers understood that the war had to be stopped for the good of the brands. Facing the 1970 World Cup, both brothers signed a “non-aggression treaty” through their brothers and promised to use non-aggressive techniques so that Pelé, the star of the moment, would wear his shoes. They feared that a price war would only harm their interests in the long term, causing a pull effect for other athletes. German soldier with the Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon that was assembled at the Adidas ABC factory. The footballer finally attended the World Cup with a modest contract with the English firm Stylo, but the representative Hans Henningsen brought the footballer a final offer from Puma of $120,000 for the next four years. It is assumed that the offer did not have the approval of Puma and, what is more serious, that Adidas did not find out until they saw it on television in the final phase of the tournament. The Puma King, which the Portuguese Eusebio had already carried in the 1966 World Cup in England, was the weapon used in the betrayal. MORE INFORMATION news Yes A correspondent in the trenches of History news No When the USSR asked the US for help and embraced capitalism to avoid starving On June 14, 1970, in the quarterfinal match against Peru , the player knelt down, laced up his Puma sneakers, then stood up before kickoff. Puma ensured that at that moment the cameras stopped on their boots, a historic moment for publicity in the first televised color world cup. This was a compelling reason for Rudolf and Adolf to break any communication again and for the family conflict to persist until today.