Rivalry between Adidas and Puma to be adapted in US series

Adidas in Las Vegas Credits: Adidas The rivalry between sports brands Adidas and Puma, which were founded by two brothers in a small Bavarian town, is being adapted into a television series thanks to family archives, the producers announced on Sunday. The series brings one of the most fascinating family conflicts in business history to the screen: Adolf “Adi” Dassler, founder of Adidas, and Rudolf “Rudi”, who founded competitor Puma a few years later. The two brothers initially ran the family business, Adidas, together before falling out during the Second World War. Their feud divided the small town of Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, after the conflict. The Dassler family has approved the project by Hollywood producer No Fat Ego. Screenwriter Mark Williams, writer of the hit series ‘Ozark’ on Netflix, was chosen to write the story using videos and family memories. “Everyone knows the brands, but we don’t really know the story behind them,” the screenwriter told AFP on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival. The behaviour of the two brothers during the war will be explored, a sensitive topic for the two groups, which are now valued at billions of dollars. Adi and Rudi Dassler became members of the Nazi party in the 1930s, like most business leaders. Rudi fought and, on his return to a defeated Germany, was arrested by the Allied forces. “Adi stayed at home and tried to keep the company alive,” said Williams. The family’s factory had been seized as part of the war effort to be converted into an ammunition factory. The series promises to be a “drama in the style of ‘Succession’”, an US series about a family at the head of a media group in the US, Williams explained. The head of No Fat Ego, Niels Juul, who produced Martin Scorsese’s last films, said he was drawn to the story after discovering the partnership between Adidas and Black US athlete Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens, a four-time gold medallist at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, wore innovative Adidas spiked shoes, among other things, a slap in the face for Adolf Hitler, who wanted to use the games to demonstrate White supremacy. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com

May 19, 2025 - 13:45

Rivalry between Adidas and Puma to be adapted in US series

The rivalry between sports brands Adidas and Puma, which were founded by two brothers in a small Bavarian town, is being adapted into a television series thanks to family archives, the producers announced on Sunday.

The series brings one of the most fascinating family conflicts in business history to the screen: Adolf “Adi” Dassler, founder of Adidas, and Rudolf “Rudi”, who founded competitor Puma a few years later. The two brothers initially ran the family business, Adidas, together before falling out during the Second World War. Their feud divided the small town of Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, after the conflict.

The Dassler family has approved the project by Hollywood producer No Fat Ego. Screenwriter Mark Williams, writer of the hit series ‘Ozark’ on Netflix, was chosen to write the story using videos and family memories.

“Everyone knows the brands, but we don’t really know the story behind them,” the screenwriter told AFP on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.

The behaviour of the two brothers during the war will be explored, a sensitive topic for the two groups, which are now valued at billions of dollars.

Adi and Rudi Dassler became members of the Nazi party in the 1930s, like most business leaders. Rudi fought and, on his return to a defeated Germany, was arrested by the Allied forces. “Adi stayed at home and tried to keep the company alive,” said Williams. The family’s factory had been seized as part of the war effort to be converted into an ammunition factory.

The series promises to be a “drama in the style of ‘Succession’”, an US series about a family at the head of a media group in the US, Williams explained.

The head of No Fat Ego, Niels Juul, who produced Martin Scorsese’s last films, said he was drawn to the story after discovering the partnership between Adidas and Black US athlete Jesse Owens.

Jesse Owens, a four-time gold medallist at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, wore innovative Adidas spiked shoes, among other things, a slap in the face for Adolf Hitler, who wanted to use the games to demonstrate White supremacy.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.