Skeletons in the closet, rival brothers, clan feuds, life dramas of individual people, and in parallel - turbulent events in world history. And this is not about a novel or a movie. This real story, this is about the creation of very famous brands - Adidas and Puma.

Almost everyone knows these companies that produce sportswear and accessories. Puma and Adidas – their products are loved all over the world.

Behind these names are the names of the brothers - Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, the biography of each of whom is a story of rivalry. At the same time, few people will succeed in basing it only on facts; it is overgrown with legends and rumors.

Adolf (Adi) gave his name to Adidas, and Rudolf (Rudi) gave his name to Puma, albeit in a more euphonious version.

Why not family capital?

Each brother began to build his own company. Although from the very beginning the brothers had a shoe factory. To be more precise, it was really a family company, in which, in addition to them, both parents and sisters were employed. At the beginning of the last century, it was practically an example of a family enterprise.

Adolf and Rudolf

But first... Adi Dassler, as a sports fan and football player, was the first to concern himself with creating sports shoes. It was the first pair of sports shoes, hand-sewn from decommissioned military uniforms - gymnastic slippers.

The rest of the family joined him later. We started with small orders, fulfilling them manually, for which we converted the laundry room in our house.

The business expanded, they worked day and night, until they finally opened their enterprise in a solemn atmosphere - the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. The brothers turned out to be quite successful leaders: Rudolf is a manager, expanding the business and establishing connections - it turned out that this was for him, and Adolf is a talented engineer - the author of the best design ideas and a born inventor. In 1929, Adi produced the very first football boots. They had leather soles with spikes and were “decorated with studs.”

In the 1930s, the Dassler factory's product range already included 30 shoe models for 11 sports, including 4 types of roller skates.

With Hitler coming to power in 1933, the Dassler brothers had no doubt about their choice - they confidently bet on the new leader and even became members of the NSDAP. The year is becoming a turning point for the entire country, and the guys found themselves involved in this whirlpool of events. But they are confident that bright prospects await their company in Nazi Germany. And it’s not just about political motives, but also about the cult of a healthy body inherent in the ideology of the new regime. This is very useful for sports shoe manufacturers.

But Nazism also had another side. The brothers were required to participate in a new war. Adolf, soon returning, discovers a factory already producing weapons for the army.

Rudolph's service still continues, they say, even in the Gestapo. According to rumors, his brother Adolf actively exposed his Nazi activities, even signing a denunciation. For some time, Rudy was even in an American internment camp. And when he returned to work, the mutual attacks did not stop, and the accusations only intensified. The brothers turned from like-minded people into mortal enemies.

Only one person could reconcile them - their father, but in 1948 he died, and the friendship and business cooperation of Adi and Rudi came to an end.

Big gap

The spouses Adi and Rudi did not live peacefully either. Long-held grievances and simple nit-picking spilled out at once. The brothers always competed, but now no longer in sports and children's games, now in irreconcilable hatred between them. Each of them believed that he was the one worthy to head the family enterprise. But it was cramped for two people.

Still from the film “Duel of Brothers. History of Adidas and Puma"

It's 1948. The family company ceased to exist. Two competitors appeared - Addas, today we know it as Adidas, and Ruda, known as Puma. In fact, the family factory was divided into two parts. The town of Herzogenauer was also divided into parts - on one and the other side of the river, which became a split line. It must be said that not only families continue to quarrel, but also city residents on both sides of the river and workers of the two newly formed enterprises.

Today no one remembers how that enmity began, but they compete according to some established habit. To this day, as they say, the first thing locals notice is the shoes a stranger is wearing. Puma or Adidas will immediately tell whether he is one of us or a stranger, this stranger he meets.

Brand war

The duel between the brothers continues until the end of their lives, and with it the rivalry of the brands they created.
It went far beyond the borders of a small German town. The arena today is the Olympic Games and football championships. The most famous sports stars are involved in it:

• Muhammad Ali, Zineddine Zidane, David Beckham advertise the Adidas shoe brand;
• Boris Becker, Pele, Martina Navratilova supported Puma.

And fabulous sums and methods, which can hardly be called clean, led to the fact that the stars continually moved from one enemy camp to another.

Pele

Muhammad Ali

As it entered the world market, competition became increasingly fierce, and accusations of industrial espionage and theft of ideas became louder and louder. The enmity between the companies was fueled by Adidas’ violation of the “PELE Pact”, according to which neither company was supposed to apply for cooperation with this superstar - in an effort to exceed the rival’s monetary offer, they are quite capable of undermining each other’s budget. Adidas was the first to pay a football star to advertise its own products.

But he led his team to the lead in the Championship, beating the Italian team, Pele wearing Puma boots.
Now the younger generation of Dasslers has entered the brand war - the sons of the brothers Armin and Horst have taken up the baton.

Adolf and Rudolf never communicated with each other again. And although, according to relatives, they were ready to make peace, but with the death of Rudolf in 1974, this opportunity no longer presented itself. Adolf survived his brother by only four years. And they rest at different ends of the city cemetery.

Adidas and Puma

The companies were managed by the Dassler families for a long time. Today it is no longer a family business. Adidas and Puma are now joint-stock companies, they still compete in the market, but only memories remain of the former intensity of passions. Olympic records are set and world championships are won in clothes and shoes from any of these brands.

And those who now purchase goods from famous brands are often not even aware of the legends and realities in the history of their success, of the passions that once unfolded around these names, of hatred and enmity.

Adolf Dassler,

one of the founders of the famous sportswear company Adidas

Adolf was born in 1900 in the small German town of Herzogenaurach. His mother was a laundress and his father was a baker.

After the First World War, Germany was in devastation, and bad times came for the Dassler family. At the beginning of 1920, they decided to organize a family business - sewing shoes. The mother's laundry was given over to the workshop, where Adolf, his older brother Rudolf and his father cut shoes, and his sisters and mother made patterns from canvas.
The family's first product was sleeping slippers. The material for them was decommissioned military uniforms, and the soles were cut from old car tires.

Four years later, the family founded the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory company.
The company was doing well. Adi, as an avid football player, designed and sewed football boots with spikes, which were forged for him by a local blacksmith. Thus, studded sports shoes were born. The football model turned out to be comfortable and, together with gymnastic slippers, became the main product of the Dasslers.

For the first time, athletes performed in “spikes” at the Olympics in Amsterdam, then in Los Angeles, where German Arthur Yonath, with the help of new sneakers with spikes, became third in the 100-meter race.

Dassler has become the recognized standard for sports footwear in Germany.

After the Second World War, the brothers had to start the family business almost from scratch: Dassler shoes were again produced from the remains of military ammunition.
After the death of the head of the family in 1948, the Dassler brothers divided the company, and each of them organized own business. Rudolf took over one factory, which was later transformed into the famous Puma concern, and Adolf founded the Addas company, which he renamed Adidas (from Adi Dassler). Puma and Adidas have become the fiercest competitors.

At the same time, the company logo appeared.

In 1949, Adolf created the first boots with removable rubber studs, and a year later - boots adapted for playing football in adverse weather conditions.
At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, most athletes were already wearing Adidas.
At the same Olympics, Adi came up with the idea of ​​offering athletes other products under the Adidas brand... And although sneakers remain the main production, Adi takes on the production of sports bags and tracksuits with three stripes. The goods went well. Year after year, shoes from Adi Dassler became more and more technically and technologically complex.

In 1954, Adidas shoes were out of competition at the FIFA World Cup: the German national team, wearing Adidas, became champions for the first time.
Adi Dassler was personally present at the decisive matches in Bern, where, under his direct supervision, before each game, the players' boots were adapted to the ground and weather conditions with the help of new technology removable spikes.

It was then that Dassler, for the first time in the world, came up with the idea of ​​using stadiums and other sports facilities as advertising platforms.

Surely every person has at least some item from Adidas in their wardrobe, but most likely not everyone has thought about who its creator is. The founders of this company are considered to be two brothers - Rudolf and Adolf Dassler.

Adolf, everyone at home called him Adi, was born in 1900 into a poor family in the city of Hartzogenaurach. He was the 4th child. His mother worked in a laundry, and his father worked in a factory where shoes were made. Most of all, Adolf communicated with his brother Rudolf, they played sports together and constantly competed with each other.

In 1914, when Rudolf was drafted into the army, Adolf began a fruitful study of his father's business. Football was gaining immense popularity at that time, and Adi enjoyed playing it.

It was post-war with devastation in the country, and his parents lost their jobs. For two whole years they worked part-time to feed their children and survive. But they still decide to take a serious step and open their own business - shoe production. In the former laundry room, it was decided to open a workshop where they initially sewed sleeping slippers, then gymnastics slippers. But Adolf really wanted to produce shoes for athletes.

In 1924, Rudolf expressed a desire to work with his brother, and they named the company Gebrüder Dassler. Adolf was responsible for manufacturing process, and Rudolph took up sales. At that time, the company employed 14 people.

In 1925, Adolf began developing the first football boots, which required studs. Rudolph went to a local blacksmith and established a partnership with him. These football shoes have proven themselves well, and the young company managed to expand its turnover. The company was already producing more than 100 pairs a day in 1926, and after a while they managed to rent an entire factory for their production.

The brand gained popularity after the brothers decided to develop shoes for participants in the 1928 Olympics. All German athletes already wore Dassler shoes. Production increased every day, already producing more than 1,000 pairs per day. It's time to expand and buy another factory for production.

Adidas - brand development

As soon as the war ended, the Americans forced Adolf to design and produce sports equipment for the United States. During wartime, the business suffered quite badly, so we had to start almost from the very beginning.

As soon as Rudolf returned from the war, he quarreled with his brother. What caused the conflict is unknown, and opinions differ. In 1948, the brand broke up, the brothers split into two different companies. That’s how it happened that Adolf named his company Addas, which would later be known as Adidas, and Rudolf created the company Puma. There was calm in the brothers' relationship, but somehow the company's relationship did not work out. The employees constantly competed and did not even greet each other when they met.

In 1954, Adidas appeared in Switzerland at the World Cup. Towards the end of the 50s, Adolf launched the production of various accessories and bags, and later three-stripe tracksuits. Later, balls appeared that were used only at important world championships.

Adolf became the author of the first revolutionary development in 1957. These were sports shoes with air cushion. After a while, production opened in Norway and France. Constantly carried out advertising campaigns, V leading role there were the brightest athletes.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus

In 1978, Adolf Dasler left the world and was succeeded by his wife Katharina. She managed the company for five years. But it seemed that with the death of Adolf, production was gradually declining. Later, his daughters began to manage the company, but they did not make very good leaders, as they constantly quarreled among themselves.

In 1989, Adolphe's daughters decided to sell 80% of the company to French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie. Tapi wanted to raise the company high, but nothing came of it. In 1993, he decided to sell Adidas to his friend Robert Louis-Dreyfus. Each time sales grew, new developments in the shoe industry appeared, and the company rose higher every day.

In 2001, Louis left the company, but managed to prepare a replacement for himself. It was Herbert Hainer, who had been interested in football since early childhood and knew everything about Adidas.

From that moment on, Herbert made a significant contribution to production, developing new shoe models and introducing the latest technologies. Now the company has taken a leading position and is among the first among such famous brands as Nike and Puma.

The Adidas brand is probably known to everyone in our country. The popularity of shoes and clothing supplied by this German company, including to the domestic market, is truly enormous. The founder of the world famous company Adidas is a German entrepreneur of Jewish origin A. Dassler.

Childhood

small townHerzogenaurach -place where he was born on November 3, 1900Adolf Dassler. Familyhis was not rich.Adi's mother worked as a laundress, and her father worked as a baker. Adolf grew up as a quiet, intelligent boy. The only thing he was truly passionate about was football.

In 1914, Germany began the First World War, which ended in 1918 with its defeat. Devastation and hunger reigned in the country. Thousands of soldiers returning from the front swelled the army of unemployed people. Adolf's parents also lost their income. They were practically unable to feed themselves and their children. Adi, who by that time was 18 years old, and his brother Rudolf were still trying to find work for some time. However, absolutely nothing came of this venture. And then, in order to somehow make ends meet, family council The Dasslers decided to open their own small shoe workshop.

First products

The Dasslers, of course, did not have free space to place the equipment. And then the family decided to use the mother’s laundry as a new workshop. Anyway, she had few orders at that time.

Actually, the Dasslers also had practically nothing to buy the equipment for sewing shoes. But somehow the family still found a way out of the situation. Adi’s ingenuity also helped with this. From his old bicycle, the young man assembled a convenient machine for cutting skins. In the future, Adolf Dassler also very often showed the ingenuity that contributed to the success of the family business. The first shoes of the new workshop, although simple in design, were quite popular in the chilly climate of Germany. The Dassler family decided to start their business with sleeping slippers. They were sewn by newly minted shoemakers from used military uniforms. Old ones were used for soles. car tires.

At first, of course, the Dasslers had no hired workers. The base for the slippers was cut and carved by Adolf's mother and sisters. Adi himself, his brother and father were engaged in the actual tailoring. Rudolf was responsible for product sales. Adi was assigned the role of production coordinator and designer.

"Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"

The products produced by the workshop were thus quite in demand. And therefore, the new Dassler family enterprise quickly became profitable. Just four years after the opening of the shoe shop, in addition to themselves, 12 more people worked employees. The expanded mini-factory produced up to 50 pairs of shoes per day.

In June 1924, the family decided to officially register their successful enterprise and give it the name “Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.” Subsequently, Adi and Rudi's business continued to develop rapidly. Adolfwas still responsible for the design of the shoes produced by the company, and Rudolf was responsible for its sales.

In 1925, the factory was doing so well thatAdolfDassler, biographywhich was now most closely associated with shoe production,decided to take some liberties and developed boots with spikes that were comfortable for playing his favorite football. Soon new model was put into production. This is how the first studded sports shoes appeared in the world. At the same time as boots, the factory began producing gymnastic slippers.

Renting and purchasing a plant

By 1927, the Dassler shoe production had grown so large that it no longer even fit into the courtyard of the house. And then the family decided to rent a large building for their factory. At the same time, the company's staff was increased to 25 people. Now the company was producing about 100 pairs of shoes per day. After some time, the rented building was bought by the Dasslers. The family itself moved from their old small house to a nearby mansion.

Shoes for the Olympics

The success of the Dassler enterprise was based primarily, of course, on the quality of the products and their convenience. Studded boots and gymnastic slippers produced by this small company They sold out in stores instantly. And after some time, Adolf came up with the idea of ​​sewing sports shoes forthe strongestOlympic participants.This decision, in essence, became Starting point world fame of the new brand.

For the first time, German athletes wore Dassler brand shoes at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. Then special attention on new sports accessory no one paid attention. However, already at the next Olympics, held in 1932 in Los Angeles, the German A. Yonath, who competed in Dassler shoes, took third place in the 100 m race. It was then that this new brand, in fact, became known to the public .

The real excitement around the Dassler brand, however, began only in 1936. At the Olympics in Berlin, the American runner D. Owen won four gold medals wearing these boots, setting 5 world records. Thanks to this athlete, the Dassler brand has become a recognized standard in sports shoes. Factory sales that year exceeded 400 thousand German marks.

The Dasslers decided to reinvest the profits they made during and after the Olympics into expanding their business. In 1938 the family boughtHerzogenaurach another factory.

Nazi Germany

By the time Hitler came to power, the production volumes of both family factories reached 1000 pairs of shoes per day. Both brothers -Adolf and RudolfDasslers -by that time they had already become active members of the Nazi Party.The brothers fully supported the new government. However, this did not save them from trouble. Perhaps it was all their fault Jewish origin, but in 1939, with the outbreak of World War II, their factories were confiscated. The authorities sent the brothers Adolf and Rudolf to the front.

Later, at one of the factories owned by the family, the Nazis tried to establish the production of grenade launchers. However, since the plant's equipment was absolutely not adapted for this purpose, this idea completely failed. And then the new town authorities decided to return Adolf from the front. He was tasked with producing training shoes for German soldiers.

Enterprise after the war

Germany, as we know, lost World War II in disgrace. In 1945, the Dassler factories found themselves in the American occupation zone.The new government did not recognize the authority of even such a well-known entrepreneur before the war asAdolf Dassler. Brothera businessman was sent to a camp for participating in hostilities.BelongingsameThe Allies adapted the Dassler factory to produce hockey skates for supply to the USA.American officers settled in the family mansion of entrepreneurs.

MyselfAdolf Dasslerwith my wife at the timedug upgarden beds andlooked afterand livestock in order to somehow make ends meet. However, this situation did not last long. A year later, the Americans left, and Rudolf returned from the camp. The Dasslers again became full owners of their factories.

Split

Raised a family businessafter the warAdolf and Rudolf Dasslerpractically from scratch. Their brand was produced againfrom the remains of military uniforms. Only 47 people worked as shoemakers in the factories. Moreover, they received their salaries not in money, but in firewood and yarn.

Be that as it may, the factory's affairs gradually improved. But, unfortunately, there was no longer the former mutual understanding between the brothers themselves. Rudolph never forgave Adolf for the fact that he, using his acquaintance with American officers, did not rescue him from the camp.

The final breakdown between Adi and Rudi occurred in 1948. The brothers decided to split the company.AdolfDasslertook one factory for himself, and Rudolf took another. By agreement between them, neither of them could use the family brand. Thus it ceased to exist famous brand Dassler shoes. Adi named his new company Addas, and Rudi named it Ruda. The first was later renamed Adidass (from Adi Dassler), and the second was renamed Puma.

Once they quarreled, the Dassler brothers never made peace. Even today, the two most famous brands - Adidas and Puma - remain merciless competitors in the market.

Breach of contract

After breaking up with my brother,AdolfDasslerbecame the sole owner of his enterprise. He no longer communicated with Rudolf. Some time after the quarrel, Adi even slightly violated the agreement concluded with his brother on the non-use of Dassler symbols. For his new products, he took two famous stripes from the old brand and simply added a third to them. This became a symbol new shoes"Adidas".

Be that as it may, but in order to beat his brother in competition, Adolf had to use all his ingenuity in subsequent years:

In 1949Adolf Dassler's first pair of shoes is releasedWitho removable spikes.

In 1950, Adi develops boots designed for playing football in bad weather.

Adolf's shoes, innovative for that time, turned out to be very comfortable and immediately became extremely popular. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, the best athletes no longer competed in Dassler shoes, but in Adidas boots.

Adidas suits

At the same 1952 Olympics, Adolf, among other things, came up with the idea of ​​producing not only shoes for runners and football players, but also other sports goods. After some time, he started producing sports bags. A few months later, to the weaving factory of a large entrepreneurSeltenreich received an order from Adolf to sew 1000 Adidas tracksuits.

Advertising in stadiums

In 1954, the German football team, wearing Adidas boots, won the world champion title. Adolf's shoes become even more popular. At the same time, Adi comes up with the idea of ​​advertising his brand directly in stadiums. And already in 1956 he signed a corresponding agreement with the Olympic Committee. Thus, with light hand Dassler in the middle of the last century and the modern era of commercialization of sports opened.

Decline

DiedAdolf Dassler in old age -in 1978. Unfortunately, his children were not able to develop the enterprise with the same success. Just like Adi and his brother once did, the young businessmen quarreled among themselves, trying to challenge each other for control of the factory. This quarrel ended disastrously for the enterprise, of course. The factory, to which Adolf Dassler devoted his entire life, was sold in the 80s for almost nothing - for $390 million. Today she isa typical joint-stock company for our time, which does not have large co-owners.

Currently, about 14 thousand craftsmen work at the Adidas factory. Its sales amount to 6.3 billion euros annually, and net profit- 260 million. In addition to Adidas itself, the concern also includes such well-known brands asArc"Teryx, Salomon, Maxfl and some others.

Livel Adolf Dassler(photo ethat person can be seen on the page above), sothus, a very long and rich life. His age at the time of death was as much as 78 years. The factory, which he created at the beginning of the century, in 1978 was already producing about 45 million pairs of sports shoes annually. Today, many different things are known about the Adidas company and its founder. interesting facts. So, for example:

At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, 75% of athletes competed in Adidas shoes.

In 1977, English footballer S. Bowles took to the field wearing different boots. He had an Adidas sneaker on one foot andGola.For such an unusual advertisement, the athlete received4 00 thousand pounds sterling fromAdolf Dassler and 200 - from Gola.

In 2004, Adidas began collaborating with famous fashion designer Stella McCartney. Currently, the factory, among other things, actively produces a line of women's sportswear.

In 2006, the famous brand was added to the plantReebok. Its shareholders bought it for $3.8 trillion.

INIn 2016, a documentary film was made about the founding of the factory. The television crews, of course, became interested in the fate of such famous person, HowAdolf Dassler. Movie"Duel of Brothers. The Story of Adidas and Puma"narratesabout the events that unfolded at the family enterprise of Adi and Rudi after the war.

The logo of the Adidas company has changed several times throughout its existence. However, the famous three stripes have been preserved to this day. The modern logo of the plant unites them in a triangle, which symbolizes the mountain as a metaphor for the goal facing any athlete.

Few people know that behind the usual names of brands of sports shoes and clothing are the names of two brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler. Adidas - came from Adolf (Adi) Dassler, Puma came from the not so harmonious Ruda - Rudolf (Rudi) Dassler.

The Dassler brothers shoe factory was an example of a German family enterprise of the 20s. The entire Dassler family, including parents and siblings, worked hard to create available materials home shoes - decommissioned military uniforms and old car tires were used, from which the soles were cut out. Since Adi Dassler was a sports fan and a good football player, he enthusiastically began creating sports shoes, and was later joined by his brother and the whole family. From small orders that were completed by hand directly in the laundry own home, gradually expanding and working day and night, the family finally achieved its first success.

Soon the factory, a family business, Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (“Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory”) is inaugurated. The Dassler brothers were an extremely successful pair of leaders. Rudolf was an excellent manager, he sought to expand the business and establish new connections, and Adolf was an excellent engineer, it was he who owned everything best ideas company, he was a born designer and inventor. The business is thriving, the flow of orders is growing, the family business is actively developing.

By 1925, the company was doing so well that Adi could afford a little imagination. As an avid soccer player, he designed and made spiked soccer boots that were forged for him by a local blacksmith. Thus, studded sports shoes were born.

The success of studded football boots inspired Adi to make shoes specifically for the strongest participants in the Olympics. For the first time, athletes performed in Dassler studded shoes at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. At the next Olympics in 1932 in Los Angeles, the German Arthur Yonath became third in the 100 meters. But the most successful year for Adi was 1936. His first child was born, and at the Berlin Olympics, the black American runner Jesse Owens, wearing Dassler shoes, won four gold medals and set five Olympic records.

From that moment on, Dassler became an unrecognized standard in sports shoes. The success of Adi's marketing was obvious - the company produces 1000 pairs of shoes daily.

PUMA VS ADIDAS

The year 33 becomes a turning point for the Dassler brothers company, as well as for the whole of Germany, and then for the whole world. Revealed during the Second World War Contradictions in the brothers' worldviews cause a family split. The younger Dasslers, who once worked together for a common cause, have now become mortal enemies, not ready to forgive insults and sacrifice even the smallest things. This period in the history of the two companies is often called the "Great Divide". The rivalry between brothers, once expressed only in sports and children's games, has now grown into mortal enmity and implacable hatred. Both brothers considered themselves worthy to lead the family business; the two owners were cramped in one factory.

The war revealed all the contradictions that had accumulated between the brothers, and in 1948 the family company ceased to exist, now each of the brothers had to run their own business independently. Competing companies Addas, now known to us Adidas, and Ruda, today Puma, appear.

The piquancy of the situation was that none of the brothers wanted to leave their hometown of Herzogenaurach and start their own business from scratch. The company was physically divided into two halves, and along with the company, the town in which the factory was located was split. The feature of the split was the river, dividing the city into two parts - on one bank Adidas began to develop and is still successfully developing, on the other - Puma. Most of the Adidas workers lived and still live on one bank, on the other - Puma workers, the enmity between the residents of one city never stopped, the relations between the residents of the two banks of the river resemble the relations between the fans of two rival teams, which are passed down from generation to generation and do not lose their intensity, although no one can name the exact reason for their dislike for each other. There is a joke in the town that when meeting someone, a local resident first of all looks at the shoes to understand whether the stranger is wearing a Puma or an Adidas, whether he is a friend or an enemy, friend or foe.

The brand war is not limited to one small town, the arena has become world sports competitions such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup Finals.

After parting with his brother, Adi became the sole owner own company. Now he did not need to consult anyone. Taking advantage of this “permissiveness”, a year later he “slightly” violated the agreement with his brother - not to use the symbols of the “Dassler Factory”. Adi took two stripes in the Dassler logo, added a third to them and patented this as the Adidas symbol.

THE FATHER OF SPORTS ADVERTISING

In order not to allow his brother to bypass him, Adi takes up his favorite activity - invention. In 1949, he creates the first boots with removable rubber studs. In 1950 - football boots, adapted for playing football in adverse weather conditions: on snow and frozen ground. At the same time, he recalls all the old connections with the national Olympic committees. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, most athletes no longer wore Dassler, but Adidas.

At the same Olympics, Adi came up with the idea of ​​offering athletes other products under the Adidas brand. The first attempt at diversification was the production of sports bags, which began a few months later. And although sneakers remain the main production, Adi is looking for a partner who will take over the production of clothing. By chance, at some party, Adi met the owner of a textile factory, Willy Seltenreich. After drinking together, Adi ordered him a thousand tracksuits with three stripes along the sleeves. The product went well, and the partners liked each other so much that Seltenreich soon began sewing only for Adidas.

Year after year, shoes from Adi Dassler became more and more technically and technologically complex. Some competitors have even begun to focus their advertising on the simplicity of their models and their time-tested nature. But already in 1954, innovative Adidas shoes were unrivaled in the world of professional sports. This year, the German national team, wearing Adidas shoes, became the world football champion for the first time. The nation was delighted - the Germans became winners for the first time since World War II. Adi was personally present at the decisive matches in Bern. Under his leadership, before each game, football players' boots were adapted to the ground and weather conditions using a new technology of removable studs.

This victory gave Adi the idea to advertise directly in stadiums. In 1956, he signed an agreement with the Olympic Committee to advertise Adidas on Olympic Games in Melbourne. This is how Adi Dassler ushered in the modern era of commercialization of sports.

The 1960s and 70s were the golden era of Adidas. The hated brother and owner of the Puma was left somewhere far behind. Adi Dassler's company reigned supreme in the world of sports, its influence was felt even through the Iron Curtain. In 1972, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, deciding on the issue of equipment for the Soviet Olympic team, chose Adidas.

All this time, Adidas remained Adi's closed private company, and Adi personally led it until his death. But towards the end of his life, he began to say that Adidas was not a goal for him, but only a means. "The only one important matter there was sport in my life,” he noted. Adolf Dassler died in 1978 from heart failure, leaving his five children a thriving company with a turnover of over $500 million and, in addition to clothing and accessories, selling 45 million pairs of shoes, 150 models a year.

But Adidas did not become a family business. Just as Adi himself quarreled with his brother over the Dassler Brothers Factory, his children now began to fight for control of Adidas. Less than ten years later, due to miscalculations in business, they were forced to sell the company for only $390 million. Becoming typical of our time joint stock company without major co-owners, Adidas still exists, but it is a completely different Adidas.

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