The Lie of the Bloody Feud: The Two Shoe Philosophies That Divided Adidas and Puma #PR

1. A family truth more real and stomach-churning than a mafia movie

Adidas and Puma. Many readers have likely heard the urban legend about the secret origin of these world-famous sports brands born in Germany—a story of a bloody sibling feud that tore a town in two, like something out of a mafia movie.

But, grown men, let's stop believing the drama that the media has sensationalized for entertainment. The truth is grittier, and for us businessmen in our 40s, it is stomach-churningly real.

In the 1920s, in a town called Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Dassler brothers—older brother Rudolf and younger brother Adolf—started a shoe workshop. The younger brother was a quiet, genius craftsman, while the older brother was a sociable salesman skilled at pitching. At first, they were the ultimate team, but due to a struggle for control of the business and the typical family-run trouble of "intense animosity between their wives," an irreparable rift gradually formed.

2. The "Town of Bent Necks" born from a slip of the tongue in an air-raid shelter

The turning point was a trivial misunderstanding during World War II. When they fled into an air-raid shelter to escape an Allied bombing, the younger brother muttered, "They're here again." While it is said this was directed at the enemy bombers, the older brother's family, who entered the shelter later, fatally misunderstood it as being directed at them. The truth is uncertain, but this was the final straw, and the brothers' trust completely collapsed.

After the war, the brothers split, and with a river between them, the older brother founded Puma, and the younger brother founded Adidas, named after his nickname and surname. This is where it gets truly terrifying. The town's residents were effectively divided into two companies. "Where you worked" meant "which faction you belonged to," and when passing each other, people would first look at the other's feet to see which brand they were wearing before deciding how to greet them. The nickname given to the town at the time was the "Town of Bent Necks." This was not a mild division like today's "Apple vs. Android" debate; it was a schism that staked one's life and livelihood on the choice.

3. The ultimate trivia: "Adidas of design" and "Puma of sensation"

However, the greatest legacy this sibling quarrel left for us today is not the history of the town being divided. It is that the brothers' conflicting personalities have been passed down to modern sneakers as two completely different design philosophies.

• Adidas (Philosophy of the younger brother, Adolf): What the craftsman-like younger brother sought was "engineering for athletes." He prioritized structure and stability to suppress foot instability and transmit power efficiently. Everything from the BOOST foam to the Torsion system is based on data and systems—a "science-based, engineering shoe."

• Puma (Philosophy of the older brother, Rudolf): What the sales-minded older brother sought was "design for speed and sensation." He prioritized stripping away the unnecessary and focusing on a feeling that makes you intuitively feel "fast" the moment you put them on. It is a "sports-oriented, speed-sensation shoe" that leaves freedom for the foot.

Despite being brothers of the same blood, Adidas stuck to a design philosophy of "how to win rationally," while Puma stuck to a sensory philosophy of "how to feel fast." (Of course, in the modern era, both companies have evolved significantly and cover each other's domains, but this fundamental difference in philosophy still remains deeply ingrained in the details of their masterpiece sneakers.)

4. The brothers' DNA: Which "philosophy" do you wear?

Which shoes are lined up in your shoe rack right now?

We in the modern day can freely change our sneakers based on our mood for the day. But now that you know the history of the "Town of Bent Necks," you should no longer be able to choose shoes based solely on design or trends.

Whether you choose the Three Stripes or the Puma Formstrip, it is the ultimate binary choice for a businessman: do you choose the way of life of the "craftsman (younger brother)" who thoroughly believes in logic and structure, or the way of life of the "salesman (older brother)" who carves out the world with intuition and speed?

And do not forget: these two conflicting philosophies were originally born from "one small shoe workshop."

Now, tomorrow morning, which "philosophy" will you lace up before you head out the door?