Adidas : The Sporting Giant Born Out of Fascism

how did a bitter feud between Nazis help  create one of the world's iconic athletic   brands and why does this company have some  dark history behind its Origins today we're   going to be looking into the mysterious  and controversial history of Adidas and   answering the question of just what exactly  transpired between the two founders [Music]   before the story of Adidas we travel back into  time between two brothers who share a particular   passion for shoemaking starting out in a more  modest operation than what we see today Brothers   Adolf and Rudolf dassler decided to change  the course of their life when they started a   factory in 1924. the company known as the dustler  brothers shoe factory was taken from inspiration   after Adolf found a hobby of making shoes in his  mother's laundry room after he came back from   World War One the dassler brothers were natives of  herso genorak in Germany a city with just over 20   000 residents and a long history of shoemaking the  brothers had to put up a stationary bike in order   to generate enough power to run the Machinery  they needed to construct their sports shoes   in the early year of their business because  the town's electrical supply was inconsistent   from their humble beginnings they achieved their  first significant success at the 1936 Berlin   Olympics the dassler brothers spiked athletic  shoe then known as geda gained notoriety when   Americans Sprinter Jesse Owens decided to  run in it and famously won four gold medals   the athletes who took part in the famous  games while wearing gator shoes won seven   gold medals five silver medals and five bronze  medals from this ADI and Rudy were selling 200   000 pairs of shoes annually in the ears the  company was a success in fact for a while   the brothers were the only ones in Germany  who could produce such sports shoes but this   success would eventually become a dark secret  that the brand has poured Millions into burying   not only that but this success would contribute to  a dreadful period in German history probably the   family conflict between the two brothers and tore  apart their business their family and even the   small Bavarian Town they'd grown up with because  of the success after the Nazis took control of   Germany The Firm would become a significant  supplier to Hitler Youth groups even during   the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics the German teams  wore them as their official athletic footwear the brothers would continue to serve in  the administration which led them both to   enthusiastically join the Nazi party and so  ADI and Rudy became both Nazi Party members   the production of the sports shoes made famous  by the dustler brothers was eventually stopped   during World War II rather forcefully so that  their facility could be repurposed to create the   Panzer Shrek or the tank Terror a rocket launcher  designed to destroy tanks there were reportedly at   least nine Force laborers employed by the business  Rudolph attempted to persuade the Nazi party's   top brass to give him permission to manufacture  patented army boots but his efforts were in vain   until the Allies came in and took over their  town the dustler factory would keep producing   weapons and equipment for the vermacht after  the war the American denotification campaign   and the persecution of high-ranking Nazi Party  members would limit the brother's cooperation   the Americans interviewed Rudolph because he was  thought to be a member of this Elite group of   Nazis he was detained in a hummelberg internment  camp until his release on July 31 1946 when it   was determined that there was no basis for their  suspicions Adolf wouldn't Escape punishment either   additionally he was detained by those in charge  of the denotification effort and put on trial   in exchange for his cooperation Adolf was  eventually determined to be a ballastator a   term used to describe a group of people  who benefited from the Nazi government   it brought a 10-year penalty and the possibility  that Adolf would lose his position as CEO of the   dassler company it was seen as the second  most serious charge during the trials just   below actually being a member of and cooperating  with the Nazi party his early involvement with   the Hitler Youth and his membership in the Nazi  party was cited as evidence of the strong belief   only the half-jewish mayor of herzogen Iraq  a Dependable Ally could save him he supported   adolf's claims of being unconnected to  the political wing of the Nazi party by   testifying that Adolf had informed him of a  prospective gestapo arrest and protected him   on his own land he consequently downgraded to  the Lesser offense level of minda balustrator   which carried a two to three year sentence as  a result Adolf would continue to lose influence   over his dassler company which his brother  Rudolph would try to take advantage of foreign foreign the decades-long collaboration between  Addie and Rudy broke down after World War II there   are many rumors floating around regarding what  turned the brothers from Partners to adversaries   according to one Theory the wives  of Addie and Rudy did not get along   Rudy had abandoned his duties on the front lines  of the war and when returning home the Allies   detained and imprisoned him because he was an SS  member But ultimately the most supported reason   was that Rudolph was an adamant supporter  of national socialism this developed into   an ideological Rift increasing the already growing  gap between the two brothers so we're here to set   the record straight while Adolf was busy appealing  to have his status reduced from minimalastata or   lesser offender Rudolph would claim that Adolf had  organized the production of weapons independently   and for his own gain rather than under duress  Rudolph also claimed that he had resisted the   change of production but he personally could  not stop it because he had been drafted into   the wehrmacht in 1943. the company's Financial  records which indicated a loss of a hundred   thousand German marks throughout the time of  weapon production which showed this to be untrue   adolf's wife Captain Tesla would dispute the most  of Rudolph's assertions and she was successful in   getting her husband downgraded to meet luffa which  is German for follower allowing him to continue   running the shoe factory with some monitoring  still needed from the denasification board   on February the 3rd 1947 Adolf could formally  resume his administration of the firm   the brothers would end up becoming mortal foes  because of Rudolph's claims made during the   trials and his ongoing battle to remove Adolf  from the company's leadership with each family   blaming the other for many of the issues  they encountered during the war relations   between the two families grew increasingly  antagonistic as a result Adidas and Puma were born foreign the beginning of Adidas and Puma as we know them  today occurred in 1947. Adolf still in control   of the previous dazzler shoe factory sought to  Rebrand and as a result came up with ADI which   is adolf's nickname and Das from his last name  Rudolf also wanted to create a brand and followed   a similar path to his brother initially creating  Ruda both Rue from his first name and da from his   last name something he would later change finally  coming up with the name Puma shoe fabric Rudolf   dazzler this intense competition between the two  businesses would split them apart in herzogenarak   their hometown because it was believed that  everyone would glance down to see what brand of   shoes we were wearing the town earned the moniker  the town of bent necks some people capitalized   in this rivalry such as handymen who went to  Rudolph's house dressed in Adidas shoes with the   intention of getting a free pair of Puma shoes  from his basement even the town's two football   teams were divided between two companies with one  FC herzogenarak wearing puma and ASV herzogenarak   wearing Adidas the two companies employees avoided  one another they visited different stores barber   shops bars and bakeries it was well known that  every company in the town supported either Adidas   or Puma but never both the brother's relationship  never fully recovered Addie and Rudy were interred   in different sections of the municipal Cemetery  when they passed away in the 1970s with Addie in   charge Adidas in its recognizable three-stripe  shoe made significant strides into the athletic   sector with the release of their football boot  the 1954 World Cup marked a turning point adi's   football boots had removable screw-in spikes that  could be changed out depending on the weather and   weighed half as much as the other Footwear this  breakthrough allowed the West Germans to stun the   World by defeating Hungary in the World Cup final  despite being behind by two goals Adidas became   a household name all over the world thanks to the  televised game however there is still debate over   which sibling is really to blame for the invention  that fueled Adidas's early success [Music]   there is no denying though that Adidas continued  to Pioneer new technologies over time maybe   occasionally encouraged by the brother's Savage  rivalry when Adidas extended its product line   and debuted the tracksuit in 1960s The Firm came  up with an idea that would soon become a wardrobe   essential for individuals all over the world  of course athletes had access to track suits   before this but in 1967 Adidas made its tracksuit  widely available complete with its recognizable   three stripes down the sleeves and legs Adidas's  tracksuit quickly established itself as a standard   in any casual Fitness Enthusiast wardrobe during  the fitness fat of jogging in the 1970s in the   United States and it has held that position ever  since Adidas also developed a partnership with   the World Cup in the 1970s that has resulted  in The Firm providing soccer balls for each   subsequent World Cup Adidas began expanding into  the United States in the 1980s establishing Adidas   USA in 1986 when the rap group Run DMC started  wearing Adidas as their signature look and wrote   the song My Adidas the Adidas shoe and tracksuit  transcended joggers to become part of pop culture   the group's Devotion to the brand was organic the  company didn't even realize what was happening   until an employee attended a Run DMC concert  and witnessed it firsthand Adidas reported 22.4   billion in global sales in 2021 it is the second  biggest sportswear and athletic shoe company in   the world and the largest in Europe meanwhile Puma  the third largest brand in the world continue to   close the gap with 5.9 billion in total revenue  through 2021 both businesses are not currently   governed by dassler family members the Rivalry  between Puma and Adidas Still Remains despite   the fact that this is currently less relevant  than the one between Nike and Adidas it is   not unexpected that the Old Town rivalry still  manifests itself today given the size of both   Enterprises in a vast and fiercely competitive  industry despite the troubled histories of   both businesses their Innovations should not be  disregarded in the annals of time to correctly   measure the relevance of such circumstances we  must always consider the contexts foreign [Music]

Channel: Super Giants

Views: 112,333

Keywords: Adidas, story of Adidas, Adidas story, Adidas history, Adidas and puma, Adidas germany, Adidas business, Adidas business story, business story, Super giants, Supergiants, Adidas vs nike, Adidas past, Dassler brothers

Id: YeSbFYtGVAg

Length: 11min 7sec (667 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022