WEBVTT - How Did a Family Feud Spawn Adidas and Puma?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and I'm here today to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>how family feuds can change the world. For example, if

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<v Speaker 1>only two brothers named Addie and Ruddy Dossler had learned

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<v Speaker 1>to get along, Germany's Gruder Dossler might have bested Nike

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<v Speaker 1>as the world's top sports footwear company today. Instead, the

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<v Speaker 1>brother's bitter feuding resulted in the Gruder Dossler brand that's

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<v Speaker 1>German for Dossler brothers being split in half and reborn

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<v Speaker 1>as Adidas and Puma, which today are the world's second

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<v Speaker 1>and third top sports shoe businesses. Aidolph or Audi Dossler

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<v Speaker 1>began making shoes in his mother's laundry room shortly after

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<v Speaker 1>returning home to the Bavarian village of head Skoonocha following

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<v Speaker 1>World War One. His business did well, and his older

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<v Speaker 1>brother Rudolf or Ruddy Dossler joined him a few years

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<v Speaker 1>later to help shy. Audi was the creative force and

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<v Speaker 1>brains behind the business, while extroverted Rudy was the salesman.

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<v Speaker 1>The brothers Dossler soon gained to claim for rolling out

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<v Speaker 1>the first track spikes, but the company really took off

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<v Speaker 1>after the brothers persuaded American Olympic athlete Jesse Owens to

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<v Speaker 1>wear their shoes in the nineteen thirty six Berlin Olympics.

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<v Speaker 1>He did, and he won four gold medals while doing so.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet it wasn't quite the triumph it should have been

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<v Speaker 1>for the brothers, as things were beginning to sour between

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<v Speaker 1>the two. The bad blood had started a few years earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen thirty three, when ADDIE's sixteen year old wife

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<v Speaker 1>tried to interfere in the business. Rudy was not pleased.

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<v Speaker 1>It didn't help that Addis and Rudy's families lived together

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<v Speaker 1>in the same town home, and their wives didn't really

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<v Speaker 1>get along. But the breaking point came during a World

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<v Speaker 1>War two air raid. Rudy and his family were tucked

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<v Speaker 1>into a bomb shelter, and as Addie and his family entered,

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<v Speaker 1>Addie said, the dirty bastards are back again. He was

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<v Speaker 1>purportedly commenting on the Royal Air Force planes roaring overhead,

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<v Speaker 1>but Rudy was positive Addie was referring to his family

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<v Speaker 1>from their Things quickly unraveled when Rudy was called up

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<v Speaker 1>to serve in the Nazi military and nineteen forty three,

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<v Speaker 1>he was sure that Addi had arranged it to have

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<v Speaker 1>him sent away from the factory. Anxious to get back,

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<v Speaker 1>Rudy deserted his post in later, when arrested for desertion,

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<v Speaker 1>he again blamed Addi, who it appears did snitch on him.

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<v Speaker 1>After a few more scuffles, the two split up the

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<v Speaker 1>company in ninety eight, moving assets and employees into one

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<v Speaker 1>of two competing operations located on opposite sides of the

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<v Speaker 1>Ala River that flowed through the town. Audi renamed his

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<v Speaker 1>business Adidas, combining his first and last names. Rudy did

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<v Speaker 1>the same, dubbing his Ruta, though he later changed it

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<v Speaker 1>to Puma. Soon most of the town citizens were employed

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<v Speaker 1>by either Adidas or Puma, and these siblings intense rivalry

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<v Speaker 1>spread throughout the town. If you worked for one company,

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<v Speaker 1>you did not socialize with employees of the other. Marrying

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<v Speaker 1>across enemy lines was strictly for Boden. You only shopped

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<v Speaker 1>in the stores on the same side as the river

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<v Speaker 1>as the factory in which you were employed. Over time,

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<v Speaker 1>Adida's far surpassed Puma in sales, thanks to ADDIE's creativity

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<v Speaker 1>and technical acumen, though Puma also did quite well, But

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<v Speaker 1>while the two were hard at work competing against one another,

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<v Speaker 1>they paid no attention to another shoe company, Nike, that

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<v Speaker 1>was quietly gaining market share. Today, Nike is king of

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<v Speaker 1>the sports shoe business with seventeen sales of twenty one

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars compared to Adidas's ten billion dollars and Puma's

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<v Speaker 1>two billion. The brothers did speak to one another a

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<v Speaker 1>few times later in life, but they never reconciled. Both

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<v Speaker 1>died in the nineteen seventies and were buried at opposite

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<v Speaker 1>ends of the local cemetery. Their feud finally ended in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand nine, when employees of both companies played together

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<v Speaker 1>in a friendly soccer match. Nonetheless, the Dossler brothers epic

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<v Speaker 1>fight was named by Time magazine as one of history's

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<v Speaker 1>top ten family feuds, alongside such notables as Cain and

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<v Speaker 1>Abel and the hat Fields and McCoy's. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Melanie Redzeki McManus and produced by Tyler Clang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this topic, check out our sibling podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>Ridiculous History. They have a whole episode on it called

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<v Speaker 1>Adidas Versus Puma, a tale of two brothers and of course,

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<v Speaker 1>for lots of other contentious topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot com. H